Post Scriptum
by pilvi
Summary: Rich, classy, and a bit of a snob, Naoki finds herself surrounded by several half wits, an exceedingly violent disciplinary leader, and an overly energetic classmate. She would have left immediately if things weren't so terribly interesting! OCfic.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Rich, classy, and a bit of a snob, Naoki finds herself surrounded by half-wits, an exceedingly violent disciplinary leader, and other strange creatures. She would have gone straight back to Finland- if only Japan weren't so terribly interesting!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own KHR, and this is my first fanfiction for this manga. I hope you enjoy it. On with the short and boring prologue.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 1) Prologue**

A small, two-story house with a comparatively large garden, just as she had requested.

Perhaps the jet lag was affecting her eyesight. Naoki tilted her head to the side, squinting at her new home. It was rather… small. She had not actually expected her father to take her so literally. Still, she supposed it was enough for one person to live in.

Little did she know that this residence was actually built for a family of four or five.

Pulling the rest of her luggage along, Naoki gave a sniff of indignation as she unlocked the front door and found that the small light bulb in the doorway did not turn on automatically. She had expected a lot more from the supposedly technologically advanced country of Japan.

Upon entering her humble abode, she at once noticed that a few improvements needed to be made. There were, for example, no curtains on the windows, carpets on the floor, cloth on the table, or pillows on the couches. Her left eye twitched in slight annoyance at such a critical omission. At least she had a flat screen TV.

Her bedroom, which was upstairs, consisted of a king-sized canopy bed, a tall mirror, a desk, a small tea table, and several cushy armchairs. The door to a walk-in closet was in the corner, and a stack of books and other school supplies lay innocently on her desk. Naoki examined herself critically in the mirror, rearranged a few strands of her very short, dark red hair and, satisfied, turned to the stack of notebooks.

A thin and handy looking red notebook adorned the top of the rather large pile, which she eyed warily. It was most likely her father's way of telling her to study hard. Naoki wrinkled her nose in disgust, picked up the notebook and a pen, and sunk (quite literally) into one of the armchairs.

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_I think I shall name you 'Suomi', in memory of my home country. Japan is less than impressive, and I'm only thankful that I've learned the language (though I do not understand why these people insist on using Chinese letters). The house I am to reside in seems satisfactory, though there are definite possibilities for improvement. I must remember to get some curtains tomorrow. _

_The last stage of my 'test-run' was successfully fulfilled when the old tailor called me 'boy' and gave me my uniform without hesitation. For a moment there, I was unsure of whether I should feel insulted or simply accomplished. Now that I have the boys' uniform and a haircut to match, nothing should keep me from being introduced as 'Itoe Naoki', the new guy_

_I must say, masquerading as a boy has to be one of the crazier things I've come up with. I never would have considered such a felony back in Finland, but the boys here in Japan seem to be so much more feminine that it was altogether too tempting. _

_Of course, I have taken several precautions to hiding my gender- my uniform, for example, is several sizes too big (to hide my more… feminine curves); my hair has been trimmed even more, and though my bangs are still rather bushy, the overall result seems close to what is popular (and 'masculine') here in Japan. Considering the fact that I still twitch in surprise whenever I gaze in a mirror, this is going to require some time to get used to. _

_I am quite sure that my voice will prove to be sufficiently masculine, especially if I remember to speak in a pitch slightly lower than my normal voice. Although I am a soprano whenever I decide to sing, my usual tone is already considered to be fairly low for a girl. _

_In any case, I think I'm quite ready for tomorrow._

_Yours,_

_-Lumi Virtanen (i.e., Itoe Naoki)_

* * *

**Author's Note:** 'Suomi' is Finnish for 'Finland' 

I realize that the concept of a cross-dressing girl is very common- however, I've really wanted to try writing about one. I hope my story will be at least vaguely interesting.

The next chapter will be uploaded shortly.


	2. Introducing Itoe

**Post Scriptum 2) Introducing Itoe**

"You there!"

The boy flinched at the sound of an upperclassman addressing him.

"Y-yes?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi was once again in a pinch, which could pretty much be said about him nearly every day. He was already late to his first class today due to a rather violent tutor, but things just had to get worse. Two third year students now stood in his way, apparently amused by the idea of bullying a first year. Which they were about to do.

"Skipping class, eh?" One of them said, leering down at the much shorter boy with a smirk. Tsuna was, by now, absolutely horrified, and didn't think of replying. The other third year sneered at this.

"Only third years are allowed to cut class, didn't you know?" He told the first year, looking all too smug about this supposed 'fact'. Tsuna could only hope that he would get away with a warning, seeing that he hadn't caused any major offense. Yet.

"A warning should be enough for now," the taller third year said (at which Tsuna gave a sigh of relief), "A warning _punch_, that is!"

"E-eh?" the first year gave a cry of disbelief just as the two third years rounded in on him. Beady eyes watched the scene from a secret chamber in the wall.

"Pardon me," came a voice from behind the two third years. They turned around, annoyed at the interruption. A redheaded boy stood there in the hallway with a green violin case slung around his shoulder. He tilted his head slightly and sniffed, observing the tall third years in mild interest. Then his hazel eyes fell on Tsuna, who gave a nervous twitch.

"There you are," the redhead said, "the principal sent me to find you. I believe he wants to see you in his office." His choice of words sounded very…classy, and thus, very convincing. Apparently, the third years thought the same, and decided to leave.

"You were lucky!" was what they shouted before disappearing around a corner. Tsuna gave another sigh of relief before facing the other student, who seemed to be examining him from head to toe. The first year felt a few sweat drops form on the back of his head.

"The principal wants… to see me?" he asked nervously, looking up at the unfamiliar face. The other boy was perhaps a head taller than Tsuna and carried an air of nobility…somehow. In any case, the first year suddenly felt as though he ought to be extremely well-mannered in front of this person.

Said person shifted his gaze towards a spot on the wall before replying.

"No, I lied," he said bluntly, narrowing his eyes as though he saw something odd on the wall. Tsuna nearly fell over at the unexpected answer, but opted to staring at the redhead instead.

"Th-thank you," the first year mumbled, which seemed to catch the other boy's attention. The redhead smiled softly, at which Tsuna felt himself relax.

"It was my pleasure," he replied, "Now, would you mind telling me where classroom 2-A is located? I seem to be a bit lost."

* * *

After giving the mysterious new student directions to the classroom, Tsuna stood alone in the hallway, wondering where the redhead was from. A secret door suddenly slid open, revealing a small room in the wall.

"Reborn! Stop building weird hideouts in the school!" Tsuna shouted, having flinched violently at the sudden appearance of his tutor. The small child ignored him and turned his head towards the direction in which the redhead had disappeared.

"That boy is interesting. You should befriend him, Tsuna." It was more of a demand than a suggestion. Then again, so was everything coming from Reborn.

"E-eh? I don't want to get more people involved with this mafia business!" the boy exclaimed, thinking how ungrateful it would be to do such a thing to someone who had just saved him from being mauled.

"He noticed my presence when those bullies left," Reborn told him thoughtfully. Only then did Tsuna become aware of the fact that the secret room in the wall was exactly where the other boy had been staring at.

"Still- I don't even know his name! And he's not in my class, either." Befriending the new student would be quite difficult in such circumstances. The mafia tutor only smiled mischievously. Tsuna was about to continue his complaints when he realized something.

"Gah! I'm late!"

* * *

"Ah, Itoe-kun. You're late."

Classroom 2-A broke into a low buzz of whispers and murmurs at the entrance of the new student. Naoki resisted a strong urge to wrinkle her nose in disgust. She took one glance around the room before addressing the teacher.

"I apologize. Someone was in need of my assistance," she told him. The female portion of the class seemed terribly excited at Naoki's appearance, voice, and apparent willingness to help people in need.

"He's such a dream come true!" "He sounds so sophisticated!" "I think I'm in love!" and many similar outbursts were heard throughout the class. Many of the boys sighed at the girls' hysterics. Naoki managed not to snort at this rather unwanted attention. It wasn't something she had expected.

"We have a new transfer student from Finland. Please welcome Itoe Naoki, class," the teacher then introduced her, followed by another series of delighted outbursts among the female portion of the class. Needless to say, Naoki was not very pleased- though she managed to hide it beneath a rather awkward smile.

"Your seat is by the window there, next to Sasagawa." The teacher pointed at a spot near the back.

Her seating partner was the overly energetic leader of the boxing club, Sasagawa Ryohei- who did not wait until the bell (which rang seconds later) to assault her with an introduction. Soon enough, most of the class was gathered around the two desks.

"My motto is to do everything to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed in a volume that was a lot louder than necessary. He reminded Naoki of her self-defense tutor back in Finland. "What's your motto?"

"Hmm. Independence, perhaps," Naoki answered with a smile that caused several squeals and dreamy sighs among the girls.

"Naoki-kun, do you play the violin?" a girl with pigtails asked, looking at the violin case that the redhead had placed against the wall.

"Well yes, but-" Naoki began to answer, but was interrupted by a chorus of delighted screams and a girl fainting. Which is basically how the rest of her classes went.

* * *

"Honestly."

She hadn't thought that a smoke bomb would have been necessary to get her out of the classroom. The number of students who wanted to have lunch with Naoki, however, was so overwhelming that desperate measures needed to be taken. The last thing she wanted to do was spend her lunch break being interviewed by her classmates.

Fortunately, she hadn't cleaned out her violin case in a long time, so it was only natural for things like smoke bombs to be in there. Naoki was a bit of a pack rat.

Naturally, she sought for peace and quiet up on the roof of the school. It was, however, extremely simple- no secret garden, pavilion, or anything. Naoki wrinkled her nose in disappointment at the concrete tiles and crude wire fence (the use of which she could not imagine). At least it provided a quiet place for her to-

"Gah! My lunch!"

Naoki twitched at the sight of unmistakably purple smoke wafting towards her from around the corner. For a moment, the thought of returning to her classroom entered her mind, but was quickly overpowered by her dislike for crowds. Besides, that voice had sounded somewhat familiar.

"Whoa, Tsuna, your lunch looks dangerous."

"Someone's trying to poison the Tenth!" Curiosity got the better of her, and Naoki peeked around the corner, catching sight of the first year she had helped in the morning and two other boys.

"Who's there?" the one with gray hair shouted, "I will protect you, boss!" And with that, he threw something in Naoki's direction. It landed by her feet, and she hid behind her violin case just in time for the explosion, which destroyed most of the cabin that surrounded the stairs.

"I suppose I deserved that somehow," Naoki said thoughtfully when the dust had settled, brushing the debris off of her hair. The three boys stared at her, openmouthed.

"A-are you alright?" the smallest stuttered, sweat beads streaming down his face at the sight of Gokudera's blunder. Of course, the gray haired boy still seemed ready to throw some more explosives at the stranger.

"Why yes, of course-" she began just as she felt something warm trickling down the side of her face, "Hmm." A piece of concrete seemed to have hit her in the head, which would explain the stream of blood that almost blended with her hair color.

"Gokudera! He's the one who saved me from those third year bullies this morning!" The news was shocking to the dynamite boy, who then put away his explosives and gave Naoki a mumbled apology, which she accepted graciously. The tallest boy, the one who hadn't been doing much, suddenly laughed.

"That's some convincing paint! It really looks like blood," he told her brightly. The small boy almost fell over at this rather stupid comment.

"Oh yes, I've been experimenting," Naoki replied just as brightly. Tsuna looked about ready to foam at the mouth at her blatant cover up. She then produced a small vial out of her violin case, which seemed to include anything but a musical instrument. The vial contained a number of small, black, pellet-like things, one of which she swallowed. The steady flow of blood stopped almost immediately.

* * *

Introductions were made shortly afterwards as they sat in an uneven circle, during which Naoki took the time to calmly wipe away all traces of injury from herself.

"And my name is Itoe Naoki. I hail from Finland," she concluded lastly, looking distinctly fresh for someone who had just experienced the power of a stick of dynamite.

"So you're only half-Japanese, like Gokudera?" Tsuna asked her, though, of course, he still had no idea that he was actually talking to a girl. Naoki shook her head.

"No, but I believe my grandfather was Japanese," she told them, "He must have given me this name before he passed away." Which was very much believable, considering her hair and eye color.

Tsuna gave a subconscious sigh of relief, thinking that Naoki seemed pretty normal compared to all the people that had been showing up lately. Thus he almost screamed when he suddenly heard a very familiar greeting.

"Ciaossu," someone said in a squeaky voice. The source of this voice happened to be a small child in a black suit who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. A chameleon-like creature sat on the rim of his hat, and he was looking up at the redhead with a particularly smug expression.

"What are _you_ supposed to be?" Naoki asked mildly, raising an eyebrow at the odd sight. Yamamoto and Gokudera had exclaimed relatively friendly greetings at this child's appearance, so she saw no need to worry. Tsuna, however, did not look very happy.

"Reborn! What are you doing here?"

He was ignored.

"I'm Reborn, Tsuna's tutor," the well-dressed child told Naoki, who honestly didn't know what to say to that, "I'm training him to become a mafia boss."

Tsuna was sure that the new student would dismiss this as a joke or a child's fantasy, just like Yamamoto had done. Sure enough, Naoki looked confused, which relieved the boss-in-training.

"In Japan? I thought the mafia was mainly active in Europe," was her response.

Tsuna froze, all hopes of Naoki being a normal person shattering to bits. Yamamoto laughed, apparently thinking that the redhead was just playing along with Reborn's 'fantasy'. Gokudera frowned, ready to pull out some more dynamite in case this new student turned out to be a danger after all. Reborn simply smirked.

"You're a Virtanen, aren't you?" he said, ignoring her question. Naoki's eyes widened in surprise at the sound of her Finnish surname. The others gave each other clueless looks.

"Yes, yes I am," the redhead replied, eyeing the small child warily, "Which must mean that you also know that I won't join the mafia, if that is what you are after," she added more confidently. Tsuna observed the two uneasily. The atmosphere had suddenly become serious.

"We'll see about that," Reborn said, still smiling.

* * *

The redhead had left them, saying that lunch break was nearly over. As soon as the new student was out of sight, Tsuna turned to his tutor.

"Reborn! What was that all about?" the boy asked rather nervously, ready to hear an explanation that was anything but normal.

"Reborn-san! You're not considering letting _him_join the family, are you?" Gokudera interrupted hurriedly, looking anything but pleased at the idea, "He couldn't even block a stick of dynamite!"

"Come on, Gokudera, he seems like a good guy," Yamamoto put in with a careless grin, earning himself a glare from the gray haired boy.

"The Virtanens are known to be one of the largest and wealthiest families in Europe," Reborn began, but was immediately interrupted by a frantic Tsuna.

"E-eh? Itoe-san is part of a mafia family?" the boy exclaimed, "Ouch!" and received a hit on the head from his tutor.

"No, they are all related by either blood or marriage," the small hitman explained, "But they are like the mafia, in a way- their current 'boss' seems to be that boy's father."

Tsuna gasped. Yamamoto blinked.

"But I've never even heard of that family!" Gokudera objected, and was about to add some sort of insult when Reborn interrupted him.

"That's because the Virtanens always work under aliases," was his clarification, which made sense, considering Naoki's name, "Besides, they're mainly active in the world of finance."

"I don't get it!" Tsuna cried out, "Why _do_ you want Itoe-san in the Vongola family? Can't I just be friends with-" and was kicked in the jaw by Reborn.

"Being a Virtanen comes with a good many benefits and connections," the mafia tutor said, "You'd better get him to join, Tsuna." This sounded very much like a threat.

"He must be really rich, eh? Tsuna," Yamamoto commented with a good natured laugh. Gokudera seemed too angry to speak.

"By the way," Reborn added with a smirk, "You're late to class."

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_I succeeded in purchasing some curtains on my way home from school. It was also the only way to throw off the prominent number of stalkers (undoubtedly girls from Namimori) who were following me. Whoever told me that Japanese girls liked feminine-looking boys had not been kidding. The attention I received today alone must have been more than all the admiration I have ever received as a __girl__ back in Finland (and that certainly says a lot). _

_As bothersome as this unwanted attention may be, I must admit that Namimori is anything but dull. It seems to be filled to the brim with the strangest people! I am quite sure that the boys I met today only border what is defined as unique in this school. I will be severely disappointed if this is not the case. _

_The first boy I met is different from all the others in that he is exceedingly __ordinary__. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a scrawny little first year whom I found being bullied by a few older students (that was the first time I ever saw such blatant bullying). Perhaps the only thing that sets him apart from being exceptionally boring is his extremely untidy, gravity-defying hair. That, and he seems to be next in line to the 'throne' of a mafia family. Be that as it may, he appears to be an agreeable person. _

_Then there's my seating partner. For whatever reason, he has white hair (I can only assume that he bleached it), and is constantly adding the phrase "to the extreme!" to every one of his sentences (which are always shouted). Needless to say, this gets a bit annoying, but I honestly don't mind. I believe that Sasagawa Ryohei and I will get along just fine._

_Gokudera Hayato had the nerve to attack me as soon as he saw me. If that isn't enough of an oddity- he also has gray hair (and I was under the impression that red was a unique hair color) and seems to possess an unending supply of explosives. Honestly, what sort of middle school student carries around dynamite? I'm beginning to suspect that this will not be the last threat to my health while I attend this school._

_I'm not too sure about my opinion on Yamamoto Takeshi. I suppose he might be considered fairly normal, except that he seems a bit too oblivious and carefree. Apparently he doesn't believe in the mafia, or that his friend is the future leader of such a group. He also seems like the sports-type. I am firmly convinced that he plays some sort of major sport such as soccer or basketball. Namimori seems very well equipped when it comes to the athletics department. _

_That reminds me, I cannot believe that this school does not have a greenhouse. I suppose I must resort to using my own backyard for my healing herbs._

_Lastly, the strangest of them all- a small child named Reborn. I honestly did not know what to think of him at first (except that he is far too cute to be in the mafia), but I am sure that he is not to be trifled with. He seems to know quite a lot about the Virtanen tradition (which is unnerving, to say the least), and, unless I am mistaken, he wants me to join Sawada's mafia family. This is definitely not something I expected._

_Really, I almost miss the quiet dullness of my days in Finland. _

_Almost._

_-Lumi Virtanen_

_P.S.: I do hope that Reborn doesn't suspect me of being a girl. Even if he knows about my family, I have far too many siblings to be confused with, so that shouldn't pose much of a problem. After all, he doesn't seem to know my Finnish first name (which is undoubtedly feminine)._

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'd love to hear your opinions. Please leave a review if you like my story so far.


	3. Extreme Discipline

**Post Scriptum 3) Extreme Discipline**

"Oy! Itoe!"

Naoki looked up from her reading with a twinge of apprehension. She had left her house half an hour early that morning to find the best walking route to Namimori, and really hadn't expected anyone from her school to be out at this time.

"Good morning, Sasagawa," she greeted the energetic boy half-heartedly. He was going to make her do something 'to the extreme', she just knew it.

"You're out early!" he stated the obvious, "Great, now we can jog around the neighborhood together!"

This was a relatively harmless request compared to what Naoki had been picturing, which surprised her.

"Oh, is that all? Well, I suppose-" she began to say, but suddenly realized what a grave mistake she had just made. Sure enough, Ryohei's eyes seemed to catch fire at her words.

"You're right, that's not enough!" he exclaimed with clenched fists and proceeded to punch the air in the direction of the school, "We must sprint around the neighborhood _two times_ before heading to school!"

Naoki's eye twitched in horror.

"Don't be silly- we'll be late!" she stated, trying (and failing) to sound calm. This only seemed to encourage the overly boisterous Ryohei.

"Not if we run _to the extreme_!" he shouted, and Naoki wondered whether anyone was still asleep in the houses nearby. She could only gather enough compassion to feel sorry for herself, however, when the white-haired boy suddenly took her by the wrist and started sprinting.

* * *

"What, Ryohei isn't here yet?" a boy in classroom 2-A asked, glancing at the two empty desks by the window. Some of the other boys nodded.

"He's usually one of the first to get here-" someone else said as they all looked at a clock on the wall, according to which there were only seconds before the tardy bell would ring.

The door burst open.

"See, Itoe? We made it!" Sasagawa entered the classroom, as energetic as ever. The students gulped, ready to catch sight of whatever was left of the new student. They knew the boxing club leader's enthusiasm all too well.

"Please remember to warn me next time," was the relatively nonchalant reply that preceded Naoki's entrance. Her appearance was only slightly ruffled, and she definitely did not look like someone who had just sprinted a few miles.

It was all thanks to the fast-working recovery pills she kept in her violin case, of course.

The state of her hair, which was now attractively untidy, and the looseness of her tie, which was usually tied very neatly, seemed to excite the girls to a degree of hysterics. They even went so far as to openly thank the clueless Sasagawa for providing them with such a sight.

Naoki sighed.

* * *

It wasn't that she particularly disliked Tsuna and his friends, but Naoki felt like spending lunch by herself today. Namimori consisted of several buildings, so she chose a different roof this time. It still didn't have a garden or pavilion, but Naoki had already given up on finding any sort of luxury in this school.

The sky was a wonderful blue dotted with pretty clouds, and though it was summer, the temperature was not too high and a cool breeze was blowing. Naoki stood by the wire fence where she could take in the view and did not move for quite a while.

It was all very peaceful, which was exactly what she had wanted. The redhead breathed in deeply and let out a satisfied sigh. The air here was not the same as in Finland, but it would have to do for now.

The side-effect of the recovery pill (which had been necessary to survive Ryohei's _extremeness_) seemed to come into action at that very moment. A sudden wave of drowsiness washed over her, causing her to lean against the fence in exhaustion.

Naoki had always thought that she wasn't particularly heavy, but, apparently, the fence did not agree with her.

The wire suddenly gave way with a long-winded _creak_, and Naoki could feel her body tilting dangerously over the edge- but just before her brain could register this information, the wire snapped, leaving her without support.

"Aak-!"

The redhead gave a cry of surprise as she fell to her doom. Honestly, she hadn't thought that she would die in such a pathetic way.

It was all very sad.

* * *

Except that, when she opened her eyes, she was still very far away from the ground and her wrist was hurting. Naoki looked up, ignoring the pain in her neck at the sudden motion, and caught sight of… black hair. Then, with one fluid movement, she was pulled up and discarded on the concrete tiles of the roof.

"Suicide is prohibited on school grounds. Go die somewhere else," the black haired boy said coolly, looking down at her with the most malicious eyes she had ever seen.

Naoki didn't know whether to thank him or feel insulted. So she did both.

"Thank you, but I wasn't actually intending to kill myself," she declared indignantly, rubbing her aching wrist. How dare he suggest such a thing? Naoki frowned, having got up to meet his gaze. She was, perhaps, almost as tall as he was (which didn't say much).

She studied him critically. His hair was so completely black that the bright summer sunlight did not seem to affect it, and a red armband of sorts was pinned to the sleeve of his shirt. The armband had some Chinese lettering on it, but Naoki still hadn't mastered that part of the Japanese language. For all she knew, it could have been a sign telling her to get far, far away from this person.

He seemed almost uninterested as he stared at her until his lips curled into a malevolent smile. Then he suddenly had a pair of tonfa in his hands.

"You'll have to pay for the damage," he told her, which was fine with her- except that he didn't seem to want money, judging by the way he was approaching her with those weapons.

"Are you sure I can't bribe you?" Naoki asked calmly, knowing that the look in his eyes was a pretty obvious answer. Of course, that didn't mean that she was going to keep her mouth shut.

"Maybe later," was his short reply before he began the fight with a powerful kick aimed at her side. She managed to block it by picking up her violin case (which lay conveniently by her feet) and using it as a shield. The impact still sent her stumbling, giving her barely enough time to block his next attack.

Fortunately, her violin case was built of some very sturdy material, which was how it withstood the merciless beating that ensued. Naoki held the bag's grip in one hand and used the other to twirl it in whichever angle was necessary. She was sure that her arms were going to be covered in bruises, however, due to the overwhelming power of the hits which nevertheless reached her through her shield.

"My name is Itoe Naoki," she said in between her defensive maneuvers, "In case you ever want to stick an assassin on me." Not that it would be necessary, at this rate.

She wasn't quite sure whether he was listening, though. His expression reflected only neutral concentration. Naoki gritted her teeth as the speed of his attacks increased.

"Your violin is going to break," he commented with a smirk.

"It's good that I left it at home then, isn't it?" she responded solemnly, though very well aware of the fact that this was no time for witty remarks. His expression did not change.

"Is it?" he muttered, dropping one of his tonfa to the ground.

Then he suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her hand (which was holding onto her violin case) away from her body, leaving her completely vulnerable. Naoki gasped just as he kneed her in the stomach and sent her skidding to the ground.

People in movies always fainted at the most convenient times, so why couldn't she?

The redhead coughed, relieved by the fact that she had managed to hold onto her violin case. Ignoring the pain in her stomach, she quickly got to her feet by using her bag as a crutch. Meanwhile, her attacker had picked up his other tonfa and was approaching the new student (who, of course, he thought was a boy).

"Why can't we just-" Naoki tried again just as the bell rang, "Oh, it looks like I have to get to class. What a pity," she concluded quickly, reaching into her violin case.

The black haired boy did not seem to want to let go of his prey. He swung out with a tonfa, but all that was left of the redhead was a thick cloud of black smoke.

"Goodbye now!" she called through the product of a smoke bomb, and ran for it. She only wondered why she hadn't thought of this earlier.

On the other end of the roof, Reborn smiled.

* * *

Naoki gave a sigh of relief as she eyed herself in the mirror of the boys' bathroom. She didn't look too bad- not at all as though she had almost been killed by a tonfa-user. Yes, her stomach did not feel alright, but there was no visible wound there. The only thing that bothered her was-

"Itoe-san! What happened to your arms?"

The redhead looked up at the reflection of Sawada Tsunayoshi who seemed to be ditching class, just like her. The truth was that she had excused herself from gym class, saying that she felt the need to go to the nurse. The teacher hadn't doubted her.

"Hello, Sawada," she said simply, ignoring his question. Tsuna had come in to avoid another confrontation with those third year bullies, and was now eyeing the redhead anxiously. The second year's forearms were covered in colorful bruises of all shapes and sizes.

"Are you alright?" he asked nervously, somewhat intimidated by her serious expression.

"Yes, yes, of course," she said softly, smiling slightly at his concern.

Tsuna gasped when Naoki proceeded to open her violin case that was propped on the sink. The violin-shaped space, which should have contained an instrument, was filled neatly with various jars and vials. Some contained pills, some what looked like jelly, and he swore he saw something moving in one of the bottles. The first year gulped. Naoki ignored his reaction and pulled out a jar that contained some sort of peach-colored salve. Then she closed her violin case.

"Watch, this one's a new invention," the redhead uttered as she unscrewed the lid and applied the ointment on her bruised forearms. Tsuna gaped at Naoki's reflection in the mirror. The bruises were gone.

"H-how?" he blurted out.

"This is a special kind of salve," Naoki explained brightly, "Not only does it heal, it also takes on the color of your skin and hides your wounds." It sounded a lot like someone advertising a new brand of medicine. Tsuna felt sweat beads running down the back of his head.

"Is it from Finland…?" the boy asked, knowing that he certainly hadn't seen such ointment in Japan. Naoki wrinkled her nose in indignation.

"Certainly not," she said, "I made this myself."

"E-eh?"

* * *

"Do you understand now?"

Tsuna jumped at the sudden appearance of his tutor.

"Reborn! Stop popping up like that!" the boy yelled, "Understand what?"

Reborn smiled.

"Why_ he_ needs to join," he replied.

Tsuna hesitated. Yes, of course he understood, but admitting it would most likely lead to either 1) a forced agreement to get Itoe Naoki in the family (accompanied by a threat), or 2) a dying-will bullet to achieve the redhead's 'membership'. He wasn't sure which option he preferred.

"This isn't something you can achieve easily- even in your dying-will mode," Reborn declared, apparently aware of what Tsuna was thinking.

"E-eh? Then what do you want me to do?" the boy exclaimed frantically. He was sure that some sort of threat would come along any time now.

"Do what it takes," his tutor said simply, "or die."

Tsuna sighed.

* * *

"Say, Sasagawa," Naoki began as the two headed home. They lived in the same neighborhood, after all. "Who are those students with red armbands on their sleeves?"

The white haired boy scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"The disciplinary committee?" he replied, "You should keep away from them, Itoe."

"Thanks for the warning," she said rather dully, though he didn't seem to notice. "Hold on," she added, realizing what he had just told her, "The _disciplinary committee_? Are you quite sure?"

"Yup, they're the only ones with armbands," Ryohei confirmed mildly.

"What do they do?" Naoki asked.

"They... eh…" He scratched his chin again.

"Let me guess- _punish_ those who damage school property?" she said testily, followed by an annoyed sniff.

"Exactly! How did you know?" her companion replied energetically, "You look angry!" he observed with a frown. Naoki opened her mouth to respond, but he had already grabbed her by the arm.

"There's nothing better than a good sprint to blow away the stress of a school day! Come on!" Ryohei exclaimed, breaking into a run.

"But that's not why-"

"To the extreme!"

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_I almost died today._

_Then again, I suppose I __couldn't__ have died, seeing that falling off of a school building is far too humiliating of a way to depart this life. For the sake of family pride, I don't think father would have __allowed__ me to die in such a way. But such was not the only manner in which I nearly died today._

_Come to think of it, I do not even know his name. I suppose I must refer to him as 'the mysterious, tonfa-wielding, black haired, wicked member of the disciplinary committee'. He was the reason I did not die from falling off the roof of Namimori Middle School (perhaps I should sue them for building such weak fences), but I consider my debt to him to be cancelled, seeing that he apparently thought it amusing to try and beat me to death._

_I have never been so thankful for carrying around a violin case. _

_I must admit that I was impressed to find such a strong opponent in this school (not that I was ever looking for someone to try and kill me). But what amazes me the most is the fact that he is in the disciplinary committee. I did not even know that such a committee existed (judging by the rather prominent number of bullies in Namimori), but I suppose I __couldn't__ have known, seeing that their title is a bit ironic, to say the least._

_At least it is clear that my disguise as a boy is a complete success. I seem to have fooled even the most outstandingly eccentric member of the school. No one would try and assault a girl like that, would they?_

_Why do I suddenly feel unsure about the answer to that question?_

_In any case, that brings me to another point. I wonder how long it will take for someone to find out that I am, in fact, a girl. Perhaps I should just __let__ some people find out, for my own sake. I find myself itching to laugh out loud (which would be far too risky, seeing that my voice varies in pitch when I laugh) or dress in frilly, girly, obviously feminine clothing. I am willing to bet that Reborn will be the first one to find out. He is probably researching my identity already._

_Furthermore, if I am to coexist with Sasagawa Ryohei, I must remember to replenish my stock of recovery pills. The side-effect of sudden drowsiness is a bit bothersome, but apparently something I must deal with in order to survive. At least I convinced him that I am not worthy of joining his boxing club._

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for reading my story. I enjoy reading your opinions, so please continue to leave a comment before you leave. Thank you. And to all a happy new year!


	4. Boxing Passion

**Disclaimer:**This chapter follows the actual plot of the manga. Thus, most of the plot does not belong to me.

Also, I do not actually speak Finnish- nor do I know much about Finland (never even been there) besides the few names I found in the internet. Just to let you know.

Oh, and when I mention 'drugs', I mean medicine of course.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 4) Boxing Passion**

"I keep telling you, it's bad to strain your muscles all the time," Naoki was saying, "I should know."

Though this was perhaps the worst reasoning one could offer, Ryohei seemed convinced. The fact that they were, for once, not running around the neighborhood before school was all due to Naoki's obviously superior debating skills.

"Then we'll only sprint around the neighborhood every _other_ day!" the boy declared energetically, at which Naoki wondered how this had ever become a routine.

She supposed that it would (if it didn't kill her) at least build some stamina, which she was lacking critically. She still hadn't had the heart to tell him that her way of surviving his 'training' included a prominent amount of, well, drugs. Drugs that she had created herself, of course, and were thus completely trustworthy.

"Once a week is probably fine, Ryohei," the redhead told him mildly. They were now on a first name basis- which Naoki thought was very relieving, since 'Sasagawa' was a rather long name.

"Oy, Naoki, what's that?" the captain of the boxing club suddenly asked, nodding towards a spot behind them. Naoki narrowed her eyes at the faraway (but rapidly approaching) silhouette.

"Judging by the hair, that must be Sawada Tsunayoshi," she observed, "I never knew he was so fast." She also didn't know why he was running around in his underwear.

"Get to school as if I were to die!" the first year roared, leaving clouds of dust behind him.

"Wait up," Ryohei called, though Tsuna did not seem interested. Just before the boy passed them, Ryohei reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Whoa!" And was instantly pulled along.

Naoki could not suppress a slight feeling of satisfaction at this sight. Ryohei honestly needed to experience what it felt like to be pulled along at top speed.

"At least take your bag with you!" the redhead called after the two who were quickly disappearing from sight. Then she picked up the bag Ryohei had left behind, and followed them as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

* * *

Well, he certainly wasn't late.

"Gah! This is so embarrassing," Tsuna muttered, silently cursing Reborn for making him run around in his underwear. Then he suddenly realized that something- or rather, someone- was attached to his wrist.

"A-are you alright?" the boy asked frantically.

"Your power, stamina, and passion are even greater than I've heard!" Ryohei exclaimed, having gotten to his feet almost instantly, "Guys like you only come out once in a hundred years!"

"Wha-?" Tsuna did not have the heart (or time) to disagree.

"Join the boxing club, Sawada Tsuna!" the second year demanded, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"E-eh? Wha-? But- How do you know my name?" Tsuna stuttered, sweat drops running down his face at this sudden turn of events.

"I heard about you from a friend," Ryohei answered, "and from my sister." And just as Tsuna wondered who his sister could be, someone came stumbling along.

"Onii-chan! Your bag was on the street," a girl with bright eyes called out.

The truth was that Naoki had sort-of-accidentally-on-purpose left the bag on the street for Kyoko to pick up. Naoki wasn't so considerate as to carry such a load when someone else could.

Tsuna, of course, was in shock after confirming that his one and only Kyoko was, in fact, the sister of this person- who introduced himself very passionately as Sasagawa Ryohei.

"Don't let my brother force you into his club, Tsuna-kun," the girl said sweetly, at which her brother firmly denied ever forcing anyone.

"Well, I'll see you in the gym after school!" Ryohei called before he left.

Tsuna was, at this point, in a bit of a dilemma. He knew he would be a failure if he joined the boxing club- but he really didn't want to look bad in front of Kyoko's brother.

"But I'm impressed, Tsuna-kun," Kyoko continued with one of her pretty smiles, "I haven't seen my brother this happy for a long time!"

Of course, that left Tsuna no choice.

* * *

To Naoki's relief, time _had_ calmed down the majority of the girls who had been in delighted hysterics about the new student, and it was no longer dangerous for her to stay in the classroom during lunch. That is to say, a good many girls still enjoyed observing the redhead, but they now had enough sense to do it out of hearing range.

Thus, Naoki could finally stay in the safety of classroom 2-A, in which no tonfa-wielding monsters preyed on her.

"Did you see how he pulled me all the way here this morning? Such passion, such energy!" Ryohei was shouting, apparently still in awe of the supposedly amazing first year.

Naoki did not even bother to point out that Ryohei himself tended to pull people all the way to school.

"You recruited him, didn't you?" she said instead, though her tone did not make it sound much like a question. The answer was pretty obvious.

"He's coming to the gym after school," the boxing club captain replied, his eyes still burning with passion.

Naoki chuckled (a few girls squealed), feeling a bit sorry for poor Tsuna. She was sure that the apparent passion and energy he showed that morning had been some sort of fluke (and she was willing to bet that Reborn had something to do with it). The Sawada Tsunayoshi she knew (or had heard of) was, to be frank, sort of useless.

"And you're coming to watch, Naoki!" Ryohei added all too confidently. Naoki raised her eyebrows and gave him an 'oh really?' look- which he didn't seem to notice.

"I suppose it might be interesting," she admitted a few moments later, edging away from her energetic classmate who proceeded to finish his lunch 'to the extreme'.

* * *

"Alright, I know you're there, Reborn," Naoki called out in the empty hallway, her eyes roaming over several possible hiding spots. Classes were over and most everyone had left to head home or attend their club activities. The redhead was lagging behind to try and avoid any unwanted confrontations. Apparently her plan had sort of backfired.

One of the floor tiles suddenly disappeared, revealing a platform which rose from the ground with the small child standing on top of it.

"Ciaossu," the mafia tutor said with his squeaky voice. Naoki simply nodded to acknowledge the greeting.

"I wish you would stop stalking me-" she began, but the hitman ignored her and hopped onto the windowsill.

"I'm impressed," Reborn told her with his unreadable expression, "You fooled me at first."

Well that was fast. Naoki really hadn't expected him to find out _this_ quickly.

"Whatever do you mean?" the redhead said nonchalantly. It was a habit of hers to deny the truth until the acting was no longer amusing. Incidentally, it still was.

"You even managed to change your school profile," Reborn continued, observing her with his beady eyes.

He was right- it was something she herself was quite proud of. She had, before even coming to Japan, replaced her actual profile (the one that had her old picture and actual information on it) with an 'edited version', which was then sent to Namimori Middle School. Her father, of course, hadn't noticed. He was far too busy to be aware of such things.

"You're not being very clear today, are you," Naoki replied, putting on a convincing expression of mild interest.

"You're a girl," the hitman then stated bluntly.

Naoki wondered whether she ought to continue denying the truth, but the look on the child's face told her that it was time to stop acting. She sniffed in an annoyed manner, avoiding his gaze.

"I suppose I can't convince you otherwise," she said dejectedly, "What now? Are you going to blackmail me into joining the mafia?"

This was asked in a fairly neutral manner, seeing that Naoki had every intention to leave this school if she had to. She certainly wasn't going to let this child force her into some gang.

"I'll tell you after Tsuna's fight against Sasagawa Ryohei," Reborn answered with his characteristically impish smile. Naoki raised an eyebrow at that, but the child had already disappeared. Apparently she now had no choice but to go watch.

* * *

"Me..? Boxing…?" Tsuna muttered numbly as he dawdled in front of the boxing gym's doors. He knew very well that he and boxing did not match at all- in fact, it was quite impossible for him to be any good at, well, _any_ sport. But to be hated by Kyoko's brother…

"How can I turn down the offer without him hating me?" the boy asked himself in dismay, knowing that this was probably as impossible as him being successful at boxing.

The door slid open.

"Ah, Sawada! I've been waiting for you!" came the hearty greeting from none other than the boxing club's captain. Tsuna's anxiety meter immediately jumped sky high.

"Upon hearing your reputation, the elder of Muay Thai came all the way from Thailand to see you!" the second year declared, pointing his thumb at a nearby person, "This is Master Paopao."

Tsuna cursed inwardly at the sight of Reborn in an elephant hat and boxing outfit.

"I want to see a boxing match between you two," the supposed Muay Thai master said, at which Tsuna regained his ability to speak and objected profusely.

"What are you saying?! You want me to box?" the boy cried out, along with many other protests.

"Obviously," Reborn replied simply.

"Yes, a spar between me and Sawada would be a good way to measure our skills," Ryohei put in, followed by another round of stuttered protests which were quickly cut off by the appearance of Tsuna's friends.

"Everyone's here," Tsuna observed, sweat drops running down his face at the sight of Kyoko cheering him on. Gokudera and Yamamoto did the same, and even Naoki seemed to have come to support the first year.

* * *

Soon enough, he was in boxing gear, facing the energetic captain. He wondered what in the world had happened to his until-recently-normal life for him to end up in such a dire situation. And then the match began.

"Go Tsuna!"

"Tenth!" The cheers were interrupted when a well-aimed punch threw Tsunayoshi to the floor.

"Don't hold back your strength, Sawada!" the boxing captain demanded, apparently under the impression that the boy had not shown his true ability yet.

"_But this __is__ my true strength!"_ Tsuna thought dismally as he lay pitifully on the ground, _"I just wanna go home!"_

Then he suddenly noticed his mafia tutor holding a gun. The first year panicked, picturing the likely outcome of a Death Will bullet in this situation. He just knew that he was going to beat Sasagawa Ryohei to a pulp and thus be hated by Kyoko forever. In his opinion, this situation couldn't get any worse.

The redhead had noticed the gun as well, and was watching the scene warily, ready to pull some emergency drugs out of her violin case if necessary. But Reborn wasn't going to shoot anyone, was he?

Her eyes widened in disbelief as the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang throughout the gym. Sasagawa Ryohei fell to the ground.

"E-eh?! You shot the Dying Will bullet at _him_?" Tsuna exclaimed, shrinking away from the supposedly dead body of the boxing captain. Naoki held her breath while the other spectators asked themselves whether Ryohei had tripped.

"_But- if someone so passionate is shot by the Dying Will bullet-"_ Sawada Tsunayoshi blanched at the thought, just as his opponent got up, _"I- I'm going to get killed!"_

Ryohei loomed over the younger student who cringed.

"What's wrong, Sawada? Can you get up?" the white haired boxer inquired mildly.

Naoki stared, not knowing what to make of the situation. Tsuna came to the conclusion that someone who was already willing to die for everything he did was not actually affected by the Dying Will bullet. Needless to say, he was even more intimidated by the upperclassman, and Reborn was impressed.

"You're next, Tsuna," the tutor said before shooting his student in the forehead.

What the boy regretted at that point was not, however, his inability to beat the boxing captain, but his inability to reject the offer of entering the club. Which was then what he resolved to do as if he were to die.

"I reject your offer, Sasagawa Ryohei!" Tsuna roared.

This outburst was followed by a good number of commands and refusals which echoed throughout the gym until they were silenced by a final punch- and the crash of a body being thrown at a windowpane.

Naoki was now seriously considering begging her father to take her back to Finland- except that this was far too interesting (though terrifyingly strange) to miss. She did however, twitch at the noise of Ryohei being thrown into a window. At least she wasn't the one being pummeled.

* * *

"So, what did you think?"

Reborn had once again appeared out of nowhere, just as Naoki tried to slip away unnoticed. Sawada was busy being congratulated by his group of supporters and Ryohei had left to change back into his uniform.

"I have to admit, it was interesting," she replied, observing the group of first years. Turning to Reborn, who was still in his ridiculous costume, she felt the need to add "but I personally wouldn't want to get involved in any of the action."

"You could watch from the sidelines instead," the tiny tutor suggested.

"Fine. But I'm not joining," Naoki replied simply, "even if Sawada decides to beat _me_ up and throw me through a window."

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_Turns out Reborn already knows about my little secret. I wonder how he found out- there must be a flaw to my otherwise perfect disguise. Or maybe he found out about my Finnish name… In any case, if he found out this quickly, it shouldn't take as long as I expected for others to find out as well. _

_Perhaps I should just tell Sawada and his lot before they… catch me in my undergarments or something. It looks like I'll be involved in their endeavors whether I like it or not. _

_I have a feeling that if I reveal my gender to Ryohei, his mind just might explode a little. I'll be looking forward to that. _

_Reborn seems to possess some sort of bullet that does not kill. I swear I saw him shoot both Ryohei and Sawada today, and I wonder why I was the only one who noticed. Those kids obviously don't know a gun shot when they hear one. _

_Also, I haven't run into that sadistic disciplinary leader lately. He seems to have disappeared- good news indeed._

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen_

* * *

**Author's Note ****:** Sorry for the extra-late update. I had most of this chapter written out already, which is why I'm able to update now, even though I haven't read KHR for a long time. Read and Review!


	5. Life in Namimori

**Disclaimer: ** I do not in any way own KHR.

This chapter is more of a 'filler'. So not a lot of plot in this one. Most of this chapter also follows the KHR plot.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 5) Life in Namimori**

_Thursday_

It was late afternoon when it happened. To her slight disappointment, nothing had threatened Naoki's well-being for quite a few days. It was for this reason that she suddenly felt a bit uplifted at the sight of Tsuna and Reborn on her way back from grocery shopping.

"Good aftern-" she began nonchalantly, pausing mid-greeting to raise an eyebrow at the sorry state of the boy. He seemed to be covered in strangely identical bruises. Reborn on the other hand, was smiling as always.

"Waah, Itoe-san!" Tsuna wailed at the sight of the upperclassman, though before he could say anything else another shaky voice added, "_Waaah, I still haven't mastered the alphabet!"_

Tsuna cringed. Naoki blinked. Reborn kept smiling.

"That might be a bit of a problem if you're going to be… _a mafia boss_," she said in response, choking out the last part while trying to hold back a chuckle. Laughing was still too risky- Tsuna had yet to correctly identify her gender, after all.

The boy hung his head in despair, having easily caught the mirth in Naoki's voice. But there was no time to mope.

"Anyway! Itoe-san! Have you seen a strange man in a suit running after a girl?" Tsuna asked quickly, sounding as desperate as ever. Naoki's expression hardened, telling him that such a sight would not have gotten past her.

"No," she replied unnecessarily.

"_Waah, I'm afraid of the dark!"_

"Now that's definitely a problem," Naoki responded with a straight face, though the amused twinkle in her eyes was obvious. The poor boy could not take much more embarrassment.

"Doctor Shamal! There he is!" Tsuna yelled at the sight of the man up ahead, "Gotta go!" And with that he left her standing there.

"Tsuna has the skull disease," the familiar squeaky voice told her. Naoki raised her eyebrows in mild interest.

"Oh, so that's what it looks like. I've only ever heard of it," she muttered, watching the boy chase after a man in a white suit, "Pity. I guess that's the last of Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"You should be able to cure something like that," Reborn said, sitting on a wall nearby. Naoki looked over at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Does the word 'incurable' mean nothing to you?" she responded, sounding rather miffed, "Besides," she added thoughtfully, "it would be hard to get all the right ingredients in Japan."

The infant hitman simply smiled, and was gone before she knew it. Apparently he expected her to work harder on her skills at medicine-making. Naoki sighed.

* * *

_Sunday_

Unable to resist the urge to act like her actual gender, Naoki had decided to 'become a girl' whenever she felt the need. This naturally involved frilly clothing, girly accessories, and lots of high-pitched humming.

"Perfect," she muttered, her lips curling into a pleased smile as she eyed herself in the mirror.

With the help of clip-on extensions (made of her own hair back when she had first gotten it cut in Finland) her hair now reached down to her shoulders. She had chosen a top with cute lace trimmings and a simple knee-length skirt out of her old wardrobe, which took up a corner of her closet.

With a satisfied flip of her hair, Naoki twirled away from the mirror, pranced down the stairs and out the backdoor. An assortment of herbs and flowers were waiting to be planted in her back yard. Smiling brightly, the girl picked up her gardening trowel and got to work, giggling every now and then just for the heck of it.

* * *

Sunday was a great day to catch up on the exercise that couldn't be done during the week due to school. Ryohei was just on his first lap around the neighborhood when he noticed that he was approaching Naoki's home. He knew it's location by now since it was quite close to his own house.

Wondering what his classmate did on Sundays, the overly enthusiastic boxer decided to stop by the house and possibly encourage Naoki to join his training. His new friend was far too slender for a boy, after all.

"Oy! Naoki!" Ryohei called over the wall as he jogged around towards the back of the house. To his surprise, he spotted a girl crouched over some flowers in Naoki's back yard. That didn't seem right.

The girl was humming to herself while poking the soil with a small handheld shovel and brushing a loose strand of dark red hair behind her ear every now and then. Ryohei took some time to observe her over the wall- she seemed strangely familiar.

Naoki was lost in her own little world of gardening- which was why it took her a while to notice that someone had arrived. Glancing over her shoulder, she froze, shocked at the sight of her classmate.

Luckily, Naoki was a quick thinker.

"Ah, hello?" she greeted him with a wide-eyed look and a soft, feminine tone. Ryohei blinked in confused silence before coming to a plausible conclusion.

"Aha! You're Naoki's sister, aren't you!" he exclaimed with a satisfied grin.

Naoki smiled rather awkwardly, a bit surprised but thankful for how easy it was to fool him.

"My name is Lumi. My brother isn't here at the moment," she told him, taking care to sound and act as girly as possible.

"So you're visiting from Finland? You sure look a lot like Naoki!" Ryohei laughed, as energetic as ever. Naoki, who was now going by her Finnish name, laughed along nervously.

Her energetic classmate only left when she agreed to tell her 'brother' to come out and train whenever he got back. To avoid suspicion (not that Ryohei would notice that easily…), Naoki decided to change back into her 'male' clothes as soon as she was done planting the last of the herbs to join her friend.

With a sigh, she dragged her way to yet another 'voluntary' training session that afternoon.

* * *

_Tuesday  
_

How was she supposed to know where the reception room was?

'_Come to the reception room at lunch,' _read the note Naoki had found attached to her violin case that morning. Such notes would have been easily ignored under any other circumstances, but ever since she had met Reborn, Naoki could not afford to ignore everything. She felt that there was an implied _'Or else.' _at the end._  
_

Still, it wasn't going to keep her from eating her lunch first. Only when she had finished her sandwich did she excuse herself from the classroom to 'wander around a bit', as she called it.

Her classmates didn't understand why the redhead insisted on carrying that violin case all the time. It was of course, a precious shield with which to fend off any potential enemies which Naoki now knew to be necessary at Namimori.

That didn't mean that she was ready to walk straight into danger willingly- which was why she froze mid-step as soon as she heard some commotion coming from an open door up ahead. Upon catching sight of the sign over said door, Naoki's left eye twitched.

'_Reception Room_'

Not that she could actually read those Chinese letters- she only recognized the one for 'room'. But seeing that the note had the same letters, she could only assume that this was where she was supposed to be.

Curiosity managed to convince her otherwise good sense to take a peek.

"Hmm, what happened here?" Naoki muttered at the sight of three unconscious boys strewn across the room.

It was obvious that Gokudera and Yamamoto were not taking naps (at least not on purpose), but Tsuna looked as if he had simply fallen asleep on one of the couches. How strange. Wasn't he supposed to have died from skull disease last week?

"Just a couple of intruders," a voice came from her left. Naoki stiffened, her grip tightening on the handle of her green bag. She remembered that voice. The leader of the disciplinary committee who had tried to beat her to death once had sounded just like that.

"Right. You do realize I'm not… one of them?" she said, calmly meeting his sharp eyes. Technically, she hadn't even entered the room yet- she only had her head poking in while standing just outside the doorway.

The black haired boy didn't answer. He only smirked in a terribly menacing way. Naoki sensed that turning her back on him now would be a horrible move, and entering the room could lead to even worse. She felt like the prey of some dangerous wild animal. Neither stirred, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"I was just curious about this." Naoki broke the tense silence when an idea came to her. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the note that had brought her here and held it out for him to see, not daring to actually step forward or break eye contact all the while. The tonfa wielder took one glance at it and ignored it immediately.

"Now that you're here, we might as well continue where we left off last time," he said softly, radiating an aura of imminent doom. Naoki's eye twitched again.

"Oh come on, I had that fence replaced," she told him, trying to keep her cool even as he charged and swung a tonfa near her head. She could tell that he had missed on purpose.

"If you hadn't, you would be dead by now," he informed her casually. Naoki used her violin case as a shield to block his attacks, just as she had last time.

"Does that mean you're not trying to kill me now? How comforting," she muttered through gritted teeth as she attempted to defend herself, which was proving to be quite a challenge.

He was being utterly unfair, kneeing her in the stomach as soon as it was exposed and knocking her to the floor . Though she managed to get up right away, it took less than a few seconds before he had her pinned against the wall with only her bag between her and his tonfa.

"I never said that," he breathed, causing both of her eyelids to twitch rather violently.

"Wha-? Ya… Yamamoto! Gokudera!"

Tsuna had awoken only to find his friends sprawled out on the floor. Glancing out the open door in wild confusion, he yelped at the sight of what looked like a black haired upperclassman trying to kill a familiar redhead.

"Itoe-san! What… what's going on?!" he cried, slowly grasping the situation and becoming even more panicky.

"It seems like I'm about to die," Naoki replied dully from behind her violin case. She had tried to escape, hoping that the tonfa wielder would have been distracted by Tsuna's voice. Obviously, it hadn't worked.

To her utter surprise, the black haired boy then suddenly straightened up and let her go.

Naoki didn't dare to move and continued to keep her guard up, fearing that he was planning to knock her out when her back was turned. Instead of attacking her any further, he only strolled back into the reception room.

"Take your time. I'll make sure to call an ambulance," he said with that ominous smirk of his.

"Wait, wha- huh?" Tsuna stuttered, his eyes shifting from one upperclassman to the other. He only understood that he was somehow in grave danger. And that Reborn was pointing a gun at him-

Naoki's eyes widened as she watched Tsuna fall over and jump up again, with his uniform practically evaporating. And with an impressive roar, he charged.

"I'll defeat you as if I were to die!"

But Tsuna's punch missed, and the older boy responded by ramming a tonfa against his chin and knocking him to the floor.

"Well then, one more," said the disciplinary committee leader, turning back towards Naoki who was still standing in the hallway. She sighed grimly.

"I'm not done!" Tsuna roared, surprising the two older students as he jumped up and punched his opponent in the face. And a split-second later he had a bathroom slipper in his hand, with which he assaulted the black haired boy further. Needless to say, mister president of the disciplinary committee was not happy.

Tsuna was undoubtedly close to being killed when Reborn interrupted and distracted them all with an explosion.

* * *

Before Naoki could gather her senses to form a complete sentence, she had already been dragged all the way to the roof along with the two unconscious boys. She imagined that they must make a sorry sight indeed.

"Come to think of it, I don't even know the guy's name," Naoki muttered as she massaged her aching wrist, which had obviously been injured.

"That was Hibari Kyoya. He'll be in Tsuna's family soon," Reborn told her. They watched while Tsuna tried to wake up his classmates.

"I see. So it _was_ you who sent this note," Naoki hissed in sudden realization, holding the piece of paper in Reborn's little face. The infant smiled its mysterious smile.

"You were late," he said simply. Naoki felt a headache coming up.

"Right, I'm leaving," she then said getting up. "Take care, Sawada."

Tsuna could only nod when the redhead left with a casual wave. He was still confused about the whole ordeal, but could not help but be impressed by the fact that Naoki seemed fine compared to his beat-up friends.

But the redhead was ready to curl up in a corner somewhere. As soon as she closed the door to the roof behind her, Naoki let out a lengthy whine and sunk to the floor. Her face hadn't been injured and no blood had been spilled, so she pretty much looked fine. Her right wrist and stomach however, did not feel fine at all.

"Bathroom slipper…" she mumbled and had to chuckle at the memory. Her bruised stomach did not approve.

* * *

Lunch was long over, and Naoki only turned up for the last bit of class for the day. She had been taking a nap on the other roof.

"Oy, did you get lost?" Ryohei asked her as the bell rang, signaling the end of school.

It took her a while to determine whether he was being serious.

"Yes Ryohei, I got _lost_ in this _terribly_ _big_ school," she replied in the end. Most people would have noticed the blatant sarcasm in Naoki's tone. Ryohei wasn't one of them.

"I have an idea!" he suddenly yelled, his eyes fiery with enthusiasm.

"Oh no," was all Naoki could put in before he explained what he was about to put her through.

"We'll run through the school and past every single room! Come on, Naoki!"

Weeks ago, she would have complained about the 'running' part- why not jog? Or walk, even? By now she knew to keep her mouth shut. And today she had learned never to use sarcasm in front of Ryohei ever again.

The students of 2-A gave the redhead sympathetic looks as they watched the transfer student being dragged out the door.

* * *

"Science lab, computer room, bathroom, stairs-"

"Oh really_, stairs_?" Naoki muttered, desperately trying not to trip as Ryohei dragged her up the stairs by her already aching wrist.

"Storage room, reception r- hey, what happened here?"

They paused in the corridor leading towards the reception room. A few students with very strange hairdos seemed to be busy cleaning up the room and the space just outside it. The area looked as if it had been bombed. Which was exactly what had happened.

"I have no idea. Hey, I see your sister waiting outside," Naoki put in quickly, having no wish to get any closer to the scene of the crime.

"Alright, I'll show you the rest of the school tomorrow!" said the boxer with a determined nod before jogging back the way they came and down the stairs.

Naoki gave a sigh of relief, hoping that her friend would forget about the tour by morning. She was about to follow him when she suddenly felt an ominous presence behind her.

"Destroying school property, skipping class, running in the hallways… how many more rules will you break, I wonder?"

All of the bruises she had received today seemed to throb simultaneously. Naoki cringed slightly before forcing a smile onto her lips and facing Hibari Kyoya.

"I assure you, I meant no harm," she told him. "But you'll have to excuse me for running in school. You make it rather necessary."

And with that she sprinted down the stairs and after Ryohei.

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_I finally found out what the __mysterious tonfa-wielding black haired wicked member of the disciplinary committee is named:_ _Hibari Kyoya. Really, I had expected something more… terrifying. Or ridiculously long._

_In any case, I had to go through another unprovoked beating today. I feel strangely ripped-off. I didn't come to Japan for this._

_Then again, the sight of Sawada hitting the guy over the head with a bathroom slipper made everything okay. I will treasure that memory forever and ever._

_My wrist still hurts. I need to put on some more salve._

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen_

_P.S.: Out of all the buffoons in this school, why did I have to befriend Sasagawa Ryohei? I swear he's going to be the death of me someday._

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note****: **Sorry for the late update. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Time to answer a bunch of questions:

Yes, Naoki is a predominantly male name, but hey, she's pretending to be a boy. She will later go by Lumi rather than Naoki.

Why Finland? I wanted to choose a country that I knew nothing about. Now I know a bit more about Finland, but most of it is still a huge mystery. I apologize for any blatant mistakes.

Virtanen is a very common surname in Finland. Frankly I have no idea what a rare Finnish surname would sound like, so I just chose the most common. The idea is that Lumi's family is absolutely huge, so a common name serves just fine.

Thank you very much for the reviews! Keep 'em coming!


	6. All about Competition

**Post Scriptum 6) All about Competition**

"Your brother seems very energetic today," Naoki observed, "More so than usual, anyway."

"He must be excited about the athletics tournament coming up," Kyoko explained a bit apologetically as they watched her brother punching the air determinedly.

They were on their way to school, though it was rare for them to go together. Ryohei usually left earlier than his sister, and Naoki either met up with him or joined Kyoko, depending on whether the previous night had been spent sleeping or... studying medicine.

But today was one of those days in which they all happened to head to school at the same time.

"Ah yes, the athletics tournament," the redhead muttered darkly, having gone through a very lengthy (and rather horrifying) explanation of the event just yesterday.

Apparently the students of Namimori would be divided into three teams according to the letter that was attached to each class. This would mean that Naoki and Ryohei's class, 2-A, would be combined with the other A classes, putting Sawada Tsunayoshi and his cronies in the same team. However, what worried Naoki was the one competition in which every single male student was expected to participate.

"_Pole-knocking_. I have never heard of such an unnecessarily brutal and vulgar sport in my entire life," she complained, now seriously regretting ever having thought that cross-dressing as a boy might be 'fun'.

Kyoko gave her a sympathetic look, but Ryohei didn't take such blasphemy lightly.

"Pole-knocking is the most important competition in the entire tournament, Naoki! It's a chance to prove our ultimate manliness!" he exclaimed so passionately that flames seemed to erupt around him.

An unmistakable look of utter disgust flashed across Naoki's face until she managed to twist it into a sort of approving grin. Ryohei was too busy burning in his own zeal to notice.

* * *

During homeroom each class was to decide on who would participate in what event. The students who were part of some sort of sports club were chosen for the more important games, while the rest could either volunteer or wait to be assigned.

Naoki had gone into a state in which she pretended not to care about the matters of the world, including her own wellbeing. Her apparent indifference ended abruptly however when Ryohei took her unsuspecting wrist and raised her hand, volunteering her for the 100m hurdle before she had time to protest.

Because her classmates were somehow under the impression that Naoki was good at everything, they gave their full consent all too eagerly. The truth was that she only excelled in science and mathematics- but apparently that was enough to qualify the redhead as an overall perfect person. Naoki simply could not comprehend Japanese logic.

"I'll… do my best," she had to say in the end with feigned sincerity. Nobody seemed to mind though.

"We'll definitely win this year!"

"Team A to victory!"

* * *

A few more days were left until the tournament, but the school was already buzzing with excitement. Signs and posters were being made with great ardor while a nearly tangible tension began to build between the teams.

Naoki felt quite overwhelmed by the sudden competitive spirit that became obvious even in the hallways. Students in rival classes glared at each other as they passed by, and there was definitely some trash-talking going on in the bathrooms. It would have been amusing if she hadn't been forced to participate.

Apparently, 'accidents' were prone to happen to the 'aces' of each team. Or at least the weaker looking ones.

"Are you Itoe Naoki from 2-A?"

On her way back from the bathroom one day, the redhead found herself cornered by some burly looking, presumably older students. She examined them from head to toe with a thoughtful expression before answering.

"Yes, and you are?"

"From 3-C."

At any other time, Naoki would not have considered that to be much of an answer, but it certainly explained a lot when there were only two days left till the tournament.

"I see."

They were leering down at her with sickeningly confident smirks, obviously due to the fact that they were so much larger and stronger looking. What they had in mind was getting clearer by the second.

"You're about to _trip_ and fall down those stairs," declared one of them as they forced the younger student to back up towards the stairwell.

"How embarrassing," the redhead commented, sighing inwardly.

She knew that her violin case wasn't going to help her much in this situation. It would be tricky to maintain her balance if these bullies were to shove her down the stairs. It was a pity that she had run out of smoke bombs. One of her brothers had given those to her as a joke on her birthday, but she had used the last of them to get away from that Hibari Kyoya the first time they had met.

But before she had time to feel sorry for herself properly, the guy closest to her grabbed her bag, tore it from her grip and threw it aside. Naoki's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no, you threw down my bag! Whatever shall I do?"

Okay, it was mock horror. Sarcasm was just something Naoki simply couldn't do without. It was like a sickness, really. It had certainly caused her a lot of pain lately.

"Don't get cocky with us, brat!" bully #2 snarled, cracking his knuckles threateningly. "Get him!"

"Wait, wha-AAH!" And before she could attempt to talk her way out of it, two of the third years took her by the arms- one each- and threw her bodily down the stairs.

* * *

"Oy! What happened?"

Oddly enough, the first person to appear on the scene after the bullies had left was Ryohei. He had left the classroom by order of the teacher to retrieve some material from the storage room, which the class needed for various 'Team A' flags and signs.

"I _tripped_ and fell down the stairs," Naoki informed him flatly while she inspected her swollen ankle. "It was embarrassing."

She had been sitting there at the bottom of the stairwell for several minutes, having feigned unconsciousness until the older students had left. Luckily she hadn't received any fatal injuries from the fall- only some bruises from where she rolled down the last bit of stairs. But how she managed to twist her ankle during the process was beyond her.

Ryohei was already at her side, examining her foot critically. Naoki had to wrinkle her nose at his complete disregard of her personal space. She obviously needed his help, so she spared him of any snide comments. Not that he would take offense, really.

"Were you running before you tripped? This looks pretty bad," the boxing fanatic muttered in an uncharacteristically quiet tone, though he was once again taking things too seriously.

"Well no," Naoki answered casually. "This staircase is just ridiculously long."

"I never knew you were clumsy," Ryohei remarked thoughtfully, still crouching over her ankle with the mien of a doctor concentrating on a particularly difficult procedure.

"I'm not," she retorted frankly, smiling sardonically at her own rotten luck. "Help me up, will you?"

"Get on my back, I'll carry you to the nurse!" her classmate said determinedly, turning his back to her. Naoki grimaced.

"That really isn't necessary-" she attempted, wanting to avoid such a clichéd scene if at all possible. She did after all, still have some dignity. Then again, hopping along on one leg would look just as ridiculous…

"Do it!" Ryohei demanded, shooting her a fiery glare from which there was no escape.

"… If you insist," Naoki mumbled, obeying the boxing fanatic with a sigh of resignation. He carried her up the stairs quite easily, not that she had doubted his strength.

"And my bag, while you're at it," she said, pointing at the violin case that lay discarded on the floor. Ryohei nodded (almost hitting her nose with the back of his head), and managed to pick up the object without dropping the girl (or as he assumed, the boy).

"Now… to the nurse!" he then exclaimed, as passionate as ever, before taking off at a downright fearful speed.

"Whoa- slow down!" Naoki gasped, clutching the boy's shoulders in a desperate attempt to survive the ride. To her surprise, he did actually slow down to a jog.

'_At least there's no one out to witness this sad, sad situation_,' she thought.

And with impeccable timing the bell rang, signaling the start of a 5-minute break in between classes. Naoki's eyes widened in horror- this time in all sincerity.

"Run, Ryohei, run!"

* * *

"Where's the nurse?"

They arrived at the infirmary before the other students had time to fill the hallways- but the nurse appeared to be absent.

"Never mind, I don't need her," Naoki replied, seated on one of the beds.

Taking her violin case from Ryohei, she proceeded to open it and browse through its contents.

"Eh, what's all this?" the boxer asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched her unscrew the lid of one of the small containers. "I thought you had a violin in there."

"As you can see, I don't," she told him, as if this clarified the matter. Turning her attention to her swollen ankle, she then applied some of her own multi-purpose healing salve on it. She really needed to make some more of it soon.

"The tournament!" Ryohei suddenly shouted, almost making her twitch. Almost, because she was used to his random outbursts by now.

"Oh yes, the tournament… looks like I won't be able to participate." Naoki said with a dramatic sigh. Inwardly she was giving those third year bullies a thumbs-up.

"No need to be so negative!" her classmate retorted, his fists clenched and eyes aflame, "Your ankle will heal in time!"

The tournament was to be held in two days. At a normal rate, an injury like this would take at least a week to heal completely, so _running_ any time before that was stupid- that was common sense. Ryohei obviously lacked that sort of sense.

"Ryohei, see how it's all purple and swollen?" Naoki began calmly, pausing the process of bandaging her ankle to point at it, "That means it'll take at least a _week_ for me to walk properly."

Sure, with the aid of her homemade salves and medicine that time could be decreased dramatically- it could even make it possible for her to be ready for the tournament! But she wasn't about to tell him that.

"Show me your determined spirit, Naoki!"

"... I do that all the time," the redhead muttered under her breath. Keeping up with Ryohei showed enough determination on her part, she thought.

At that moment, the door was opened, and a man in a doctor's gown entered. He looked vaguely familiar.

"What's this? Get out of here you two, I have no room for boys," the man told them, motioning them to leave with a lazy wave.

"You're the nurse?" Ryohei asked, ignoring the man's orders.

"The new school _doctor_, yes. Shamal's the name," he clarified. His eyes then fell on Naoki.

"Hmm? You're quite pretty for a boy. Are you sure you're wearing the right uniform?" he drawled, approaching her with a rather sleazy smile.

"We were just leaving," Naoki replied curtly after looking at the doctor as if he had turned into a wriggling insect.

But just as she was carefully shifting her injured leg to get up from the bed, Ryohei spoke up.

"Naoki! You must stay here and rest!" he demanded.

"I have to help with the preparations," the redhead retorted, but her classmate was already leaving.

"That way you'll be ready for the tournament!" Ryohei added just before he exited the room and jogged to class.

A few moments of silence passed, with Naoki staring blankly at the closed door.

"… He can't be serious," Doctor Shamal muttered with a raised eyebrow, having noticed the state of Naoki's half-bandaged ankle.

"Oh no. He's _always_ serious."

* * *

The next day, the tension between teams was getting to its highest level and it was safe to say that nobody was paying attention to any of the lessons. As soon as the students were dismissed from their last class for the day, team meetings were held with great enthusiasm and unnecessary secrecy.

Naoki's ankle was healing nicely with the aid of all kinds of home medication. The salves and ointments she had used smelled absolutely appalling, but were accordingly effective. She did still have to limp around to avoid further injury.

Naoki sighed as she sat down for this last meeting, and immediately found herself surrounded by a few first year girls, all looking terribly worried.

"Oh Itoe-senpai, we heard you were injured!"

"Does that mean you won't be able to participate tomorrow?"

There was a suitable word for such girls.

"Oh no! That's terrible!"

"We were really looking forward to seeing you compete, senpai!"

Fangirls. That's what they were.

"Thank you for your concern," Naoki told them with a ghost of a smile, and nearly snorted at their obvious delight. She figured that she wasn't going to be rid of them until she revealed her actual gender, so until then she might as well enjoy their antics.

Ryohei soon gained their attention when he announced that he _wouldn't_ be playing the role of the leader during the pole-knocking competition of the tournament. His reasoning was that he wanted to be a part of the 'battlefield'- a selfish motive, and a rather stupid one at that.

Naoki wasn't all too surprised. Hanging out with Ryohei had taught her not to waste any energy on such reactions.

"Instead, I have thought of someone more fitting for the role- Sawada Tsuna from class 1-A!" he then announced with maximized fervor.

This time even Naoki had to raise an eyebrow along with the rest of the students. Whispers of awe and confusion broke out among the team amidst the panicky cries of Tsuna, who obviously hadn't been prepared for this situation.

"Those who agree, raise your hands! The majority will decide," Ryohei declared, with his hand already raised.

The students communicated their disapproval quite clearly, seeing that not a single hand was raised. Tsuna gave a sigh of relief.

"Raise you hands!" Ryohei demanded with increased volume, making most everyone cringe in exasperation.

The first years were then threatened into showing their (forced) approval by Gokudera, who also managed to win the votes of many female students. Still, that wasn't the majority.

"I approve," Naoki spoke up, raising her hand and gaining everyone's attention in doing so. Many of her own classmates (especially the female portion) were convinced immediately, deciding the matter once and for all.

Glancing in Tsuna's direction, Naoki couldn't help twisting her lips into a smug smile. Apparently suffering under Ryohei's personality had caused her to become a bit sadistic. She welcomed the idea of having someone else be the victim for once.

Sadly, Tsuna's opinion on the matter was ignored.

* * *

"I don't want to be hated by Kyoko's brother… but I have to refuse!" Tsuna muttered to himself later that afternoon as he made his way to the Sasagawa residence.

The support he was receiving was overwhelming, to say the least. The only option he could think of was to back out of this responsibility.

"Tsuna-kun?"

The boy twitched at the sound of Kyoko's voice, but that didn't prepare him for the shock he received upon turning around.

"Hey Sawada."

Itoe Naoki was there as well, but that wasn't all- the redhead's arm was around Kyoko's shoulder. Tsuna's jaw dropped.

'_K… Kyoko-chan and Itoe-san?? Why is he here? And leaning on her like that? Are they… can it be…?!'_

Naoki could see how this situation could be mistaken- they did, after all, give the impression of a couple.

The truth was that Kyoko had offered to help Naoki home since her ankle had yet to heal perfectly. Ryohei, who had dragged her to her house yesterday, was busy… doing something undoubtedly related to the tournament.

Despair and utter astonishment were quite evident in Tsuna's expression, but Kyoko didn't seem to recognize the obvious.

"What's wrong, Tsuna-kun?" she asked with those innocent wide eyes of hers.

"N… nothing!" Tsuna answered quickly. Naoki smirked, suddenly realizing exactly why the boy seemed so flustered.

"I see how it is," the redhead said smugly, regarding the two younger students with a knowing smile before removing her arm from the girl. Kyoko blinked, tilting her head to the side in her own adorable way. Tsuna still looked as confused as ever.

"Well, Sawada- I live down the street and around the corner," Naoki explained calmly, pointing over the boy's shoulder in the direction of her residence, "And I have an injured ankle."

Luckily Tsuna wasn't as oblivious as either of the Sasagawa siblings, so he understood what the older student was telling him. It felt as though several gigantic boulders were lifted from his heart. He laughed awkwardly.

'_Phew!_'

Kyoko still didn't know what was going on, but that didn't bother her.

"Oh, Tsuna-kun! I'm sorry about what my brother did… Really, Naoki senpai, you should have stopped him." She pouted cutely, sending Tsuna's mind into a state of blissful adoration.

"Why Kyoko, are you saying you don't think Sawada is suitable for the role?" Naoki remarked with raised eyebrows and a playfully serious tone. Kyoko shook her head hastily.

"No! But…" she began, turning to Tsuna, "I mean, if it's too much trouble for you…"

'_Uwaah- don't look at me like that, Kyoko-chan!'_ the boy wailed inwardly, and before he could think clearly had already replied, "No, it's no trouble…"

Naoki's lips spread into a satisfied smile.

"There you are, Sawada!"

"Tenth! Where have you been?"

"Yo, Tsuna!"

Suddenly a whole bunch of other people appeared on the scene. Ryohei, who was one of them, seemed to be holding some sort of long pole.

"Nice pole," Naoki commented, running her eyes over the strange object and noticing what looked like Reborn in an elephant hat and boxing gloves. She remembered that outfit.

It turned out that Reborn had invited Ryohei and Tsuna's friends for a training session in preparation of the tournament. Obviously, Tsuna was not excited.

"Let's go to the riverside," Ryohei proposed as the group turned to leave. "Hey Naoki, how's the ankle?" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Good!" the redhead yelled back, taking care to keep her voice at boy-level. Her classmate seemed satisfied with the answer, and left her standing there with his sister.

"Is that true, Naoki senpai?" Kyoko asked worriedly once her brother was out of sight.

"It is, actually," the older student confirmed, unable to resist giving the cute girl a reassuring pat on the head. "No need to worry."

* * *

_Dearest Suomi,_

_Ryohei's unbearable energy is undoubtedly balanced out by his sister's sweetness. Sasagawa Kyoko is such a charming little girl (no wonder Sawada's fallen for her)- I wish I had a sibling resembling her. All of my younger relatives are spoiled beyond recognition… such a bunch of brats. I guess you can't have everything._

_My ankle still throbs, but it's healing very nicely. I really do think that I'll be ready for a 100m hurdle tomorrow- though I still haven't decided whether I'll admit to that. Why bother to waste energy when I have such a perfect excuse to simply stand in the sidelines?_

_On a different note, I find it quite surprising (and a bit disappointing) that no one else has yet found out about my actual gender. Hiding such a big secret is supposed to be a thrilling experience- instead, it's becoming simply bothersome. Maybe I have to give them all some blatantly obvious hints… though I don't think Ryohei will be convinced even if I tell him outright._

_I see it now. I'm surrounded by idiots._

_Now that's something to think about. Might as well go to bed while I'm at it._

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen _

_

* * *

  
_

**Authors Note****:** Wow, this chapter turned out longer than expected… and the tournament hasn't even started! Hope you all enjoyed the read. If you didn't... you really don't have to tell me.

Now, time for a **pairing vote** (it's not much of a vote, more of an open debate)! The story is still in its very early stages, and much about Naoki is yet to be revealed, but I'm sure you all have already decided whom she …suits?

I guess the two most likely pairings would be with either **Ryohei** or **Hibari**, seeing that they seem to be around the most. But what do you think? Someone else entirely, perhaps?

I'm actually leaning a bit towards Ryohei (he needs more love), but then again it seems like that'll be really hard to write (he's so... so ignorant). I won't be able to decide without some feedback from you!

The vote will be open for a few more chapters, methinks. Whichever character seems the most popular will certainly get more scenes in the next chapter, so please do take the time to review!


	7. The Tournament

**Disclaimer:** A large part of this chapter is straight out of the manga (excepting the existence of my OC), so sorry about that. I usually try to write 'behind the scenes' stuff while following the overall plotline, but in this chapter it was necessary to implement a lot of actual scenes (as was the case in some of the previous chapters). Hope you don't mind too much.

The pairing vote is still open! Please state your reasoning behind your choice, because that's what's going to help me.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 7) The Tournament**

"Come on, Naoki! We'll take the shortcut!"

"We're not late you know-at this rate we'll be an hour early!"

"Nonsense! There's training to do!"

It was the morning of the long awaited tournament. Naoki had been rudely awakened by an incessant ringing of the doorbell- at least an hour earlier than she was used to.

Only one person could dare to risk waking the entire neighborhood so early in the morning, and that person could not be defied by logic. Knowing this all too well, Naoki had decided to humor him and participate in his pre-tournament blitz training session.

"I've never heard of this shortcut," she complained as they jogged along, having already tried (and failed) to use her ankle as an excuse to get out of this predicament.

His response to that one had been something along the lines of '_It won't get any better if you just sit around_'. It made absolutely no sense, but apparently that didn't matter.

At least her injury really _was_ fully healed, thanks to her superb medical treatment. She was actually quite proud of how quickly her ankle had recovered, which was why she was letting Ryohei have his way. That was, at least, what she told herself.

"Here it is- the perfect obstacle course!" the boxing fanatic shouted suddenly, stopping at the corner of a street.

A few seconds of silence passed.

"I don't get it," Naoki admitted flatly, running her eyes over the entirely normal part of the neighborhood they were in. Glancing back at her classmate, she blinked. And grimaced. "Ah… now I get it."

The white haired teenager was now standing on top of a wall that bordered someone's house. He gave his teammate a firm nod, his eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"You couldn't train because of your injury before today- so now your training level has to be doubled!" he announced passionately. "Get up here!"

Naoki could have fled. But she knew that resistance was futile when Ryohei was so fired up. Yes, she could have made a run for it- but he would have caught her in the end. And it would have been a very bitter end.

"Fine," she muttered, climbing onto the wall in one swift movement. It had taken her years to perfect this skill. Not that it had been particularly useful, but hey.

"You'll start here," Ryohei instructed, pointing at the backyard they could now see clearly.

The houses in this street were conveniently aligned for this ridiculous training session. The backyards were separated by walls, each of which was connected to the long wall bordering the street. That was where they were standing, and Ryohei's supposed 'shortcut' was basically like a major obstacle course involving wall-climbing lots of trespassing.

"Ryohei, this is not a hurdle," Naoki said, now able to keep her cool about as long as the average saint. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Of course not! You'll definitely be ready for the tournament after this!" he told her, oh so sure of himself.

She looked at him, wondering whether pushing her classmate off a seven foot wall would be enough to silence him.

No. Sadly enough, no.

* * *

"One more lap!"

"No really… that's enough… I'm in top shape now," Naoki stated firmly in between gasps of breath after three of Ryohei's 'shortcuts' and no use of her homemade drugs.

Oddly enough, he listened. Oddly enough, she was still alive.

"Can you win it?"

"… Sure."

She knew by now that '_I'll try_' was never a good answer, and always a cause for more training.

"Ryohei, please don't ever become a coach," she muttered once she was able to breathe normally.

"Eh, why not? Because I'm meant to be the trainee?"

"… Yes. That's it exactly."

* * *

Naoki _did_ have to rely on her recovery pills after all, seeing that she could no longer feel her legs by the time they finally got to school. And they weren't early either, but just in time to change into their sportswear and assemble outside. She was of course smart enough to get changed in one of the bathroom stalls, where she could get at least some privacy.

On her way out, she witnessed Kyoko giving something to- the only guy with such terribly out of control hair- Tsuna. Meandering up to the boy after the cute girl had left, Naoki glanced over his shoulder to see what he was holding.

Two Chinese letters (which she assumed spelled his name) were stitched skillfully onto a black headband. He was staring at it in stupefied awe. He also seemed to be trembling.

"Oh boy. Looks like you won't be able to back out of this one now," Naoki remarked casually, causing Tsuna to twitch in surprise.

"Eh-! Itoe-san!"

"I mean, your beloved Kyoko seems to be counting on you," the redhead continued with an air of mild amusement. After that horrible training with Ryohei, the sight of someone else's misery was quite refreshing.

Tsuna blurted out some nonsense at her choice of words, but soon hung his head in despair. Even the upperclassman seemed to be laughing at him- how humiliating!

"Just try to survive," Naoki told him with a lopsided grin. Needless to say, it wasn't very encouraging.

She would have patted his head as she left, but that hair really did look suspiciously pointy.

* * *

"Go team A!"

"Goal!"

"Awesome, Yamamoto!"

The games were soon started after a short opening ceremony. There were far too many people in Naoki's opinion- even parents and family had come to cheer on the students.

"Next up, the 100m hurdle!"

The redhead sighed as she made her way to the starting line in a relatively laid-back fashion. The squeals and high pitched cheering only made her eyelids twitch, though her fans didn't seem to notice.

"Oy, Naoki! To the extreme!" someone, whom she could only assume to be her overly energetic classmate, roared from the crowd, almost drowning out the starting signal.

Every once in a while, Naoki did enjoy a challenge- which was why she didn't avoid Ryohei, who offered her a life-threatening challenge almost every single day. That was also why she now concentrated on winning the race. She liked the idea of being able to chuckle at the losers afterwards.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as well as she had hoped.

"Go, Itoe senpai!"

"You can do it!"

One hundred meters was not a particularly long distance- but with obstacles in between, it became quite a breathtaking competition. What with the ridiculous amount of training she had to go through that morning, Naoki was determined to win this thing.

She did manage to take the lead and conquer most of the obstacles- until it happened.

"Almost there- NO!"

"Kyaa! Naoki-kun!"

The aftereffect of those recovery pills kicked in the very moment Naoki approached the last obstacle and finishing line. A sudden wave of drowsiness left her toppling over the last hurdle, which resulted in an involuntary somersault and gave her opponents a chance to catch up.

Naoki got in third, at least.

* * *

"Man… At least _I_ got in third."

Tsuna sighed at these not so encouraging words from the upperclassman. He had just been the last one to cross the finish line for the pogo stick race. No surprises there, but it seemed as though quite a few people had expected a lot more from him.

"Shut up, you! The Tenth was obviously saving his strength for the pole-knocking competition," Gokudera interjected with a glare at Naoki.

"Eh-?" was all Tsuna could say, since his self-proclaimed right-hand man was spewing nonsense again.

"Oh yes, of course. How could I have missed that," the redhead responded with a straight face, nodding solemnly.

'… _He's making fun of me..._' Tsuna concluded miserably.

He was then a bit surprised to see the usually nonchalant upperclassman grimace at the sound of someone's very loud voice.

"Naoki!" Ryohei yelled upon arrival. The redhead sighed inwardly, attempting to prepare herself for whatever the boy had in store for her.

"Yes, Ryohei?" she answered, sounding mildly interested and covering up all traces of that grimace with a blank look. Tsuna watched her act in awe.

"Why didn't you tell me that your ankle is still injured?" the white haired boxer demanded. Whispering broke out among the students nearby who had heard his words all too clearly.

Naoki blinked speechlessly for a moment.

"Go on," she then said, crossing her arms loosely and raising her eyebrows, inviting him to continue.

"I saw how you were in the lead- and then your injury stopped you from winning!" Ryohei exclaimed, sounding quite outraged.

Naoki blinked some more. And then she nodded.

"Ah, you saw through me," she confirmed gravely with a defeated sigh. "That's exactly what happened."

Sadly enough only Tsuna could see through the act. Ryohei nodded solemnly at his friend's 'confession'.

"And you, Sawada!" he suddenly shouted, turning his attention to the first year instead, "You came in last- what was that? Always give it your best! Our team's victory is at stake here!"

"I- uh-" Tsuna stuttered in response, cringing at the unexpected scolding.

Naoki was now complacently observing the scene from behind Ryohei. Upon meeting eyes with Tsuna, she smiled rather smugly.

'_Uwaah- why me?_' the boy wailed inwardly.

But Tsuna's horrible day was far from over.

"You again-! Shut up, turf head!" Gokudera put in, apparently trying to pick a fight with Kyoko's brother.

A vein on Ryohei's forehead throbbed visibly at the younger student's insolence.

"Wha-! Wait, Gokudera!" Tsuna cried frantically, trying (and failing) to put a stop to the violence that ensued.

He could only gasp as the two proceeded to punch each other in the face. Naoki wrinkled her nose at their stupidity.

"Hey, maybe you should recruit _him_ to the boxing club," she suggested, holding back a snort as the two acted all tough.

Then another guy showed up, this one from Team C according to the very large vest he was wearing on his very large body.

"What's this? Fighting within the team?" the third year remarked, looking down at the boys with a derisive laugh. "Pole-knocking is all about teamwork- I guess Team A won't be a challenge!"

Naoki recognized this guy. He was one of the bullies who had cornered her two days ago. But before she could comment, he was already knocked out by a punch from Ryohei and a kick from Gokudera.

"Th… this guy is the leader of Team C!" Tsuna exclaimed in panic.

"And here are his followers," Naoki said, as cool as ever, watching the crowd around them getting larger. In her opinion, this was when the tournament actually got interesting.

"Anyone got a problem? Bring it on!" Ryohei declared against the members of Team C who were voicing their disapproval of their leader's unconsciousness.

"If it's a fight you all want, I'll take you on," said Gokudera, suddenly showing some team spirit. Sort of.

'_You're making things worse!_' Tsuna exclaimed inside his head, '_He isn't helping either!_' he added at the sight of Naoki's rather pleased expression.

* * *

Things got even more interesting (and worse, for Tsuna) when a student from Team C announced that the leader of team B had just been assaulted by someone in the bathroom.

"This person is the witness!" the messenger concluded, pointing at the ground. Everyone stared at the small old man that Reborn was apparently supposed to be.

"It's true," the infant (now with beard) squeaked, "The attacker said that he was under the orders of Team A's leader, Sawada Tsuna."

"Reborn? What are you saying!" poor Tsuna shrieked, desperately trying to deny the situation.

"You have more thirst for victory than I thought Sawada!" Ryohei remarked, sounding quite impressed.

"Oh wow, how sly," Naoki put in with a smirk, playing along with Reborn's evil scheme.

"Brilliant strategy, Tenth!" Gokudera said, full of admiration for his boss.

"No it's not!" Tsuna retorted in horror, '_The attacker was definitely Reborn!_'

Of course, the students of Team B and C were already complaining loudly.

"See that?" Ryohei said, turning towards the now very large audience, "This is how we do things!"

"No it isn't!" Tsuna wailed to no avail.

The opposing teams blamed everything on the poor first year and could not be silenced until an announcement was made, saying that the matter would be further discussed by the teams' representatives during lunch.

"Ah, so much drama," Naoki muttered happily before strolling off to find a quiet place to eat.

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_Today I brought you to school because I thought I might be too tired to write an entry tonight. And I obviously need to tell you about today._

_It is now lunch time, and I have retreated to a nice, quiet spot on the roof. From here I can observe whatever is going on down there without having to participate.  
_

_I can tell that some sort of war is about to break out. And at the center of it all is Sawada- somehow his misfortune makes me feel content. Does that mean I enjoy watching little boys suffer?_

_I swear; I used to be normal._

_Well, I'd better get down there. I'm curious to see what decision they came to concerning the whole fiasco. I bet Ryohei only made things worse (and therefore more interesting)._

_More details later,_

_-Lumi Virtanen_

_

* * *

_

Quickly shutting the red notebook she used as a diary, Naoki stepped up to the roof's fence (now sparkling new) and listened to the announcement that was being made.

"-and so this year's pole-knocking will be Team A competing against Team B and C combined!"

A deafening cheer broke out from the two unified teams, drowning out the horrified gasps and protests of Team A.

"Oh, I need to hear Ryohei explaining _this_," Naoki muttered to herself with a smirk, snatching up her violin case to take back to her classroom before storming out onto the courtyard.

And completely forgetting something rather important…

* * *

"Sasagawa-san! How did this happen?"

"I bet the majority ruled against you!"

"That's unfair!"

Naoki got back just in time to hear some of her teammates confronting Ryohei, who looked as grimly resolute as ever.

"No," he told the small crowd, "_I_ suggested it and forced it on them!"

'_Why?_'

"Attaboy," Naoki said, patting her friend on the shoulder and earning herself a number of exasperated glances.

Tsuna's jaw hung open (as it had for quite a while now) as he tried to understand just how deeply in trouble he was. Reborn explained that having the 'enemy' as one would make things faster. And a whole lot more difficult, but he left out that part.

"I agree!" Ryohei exclaimed all too enthusiastically, "We'll defeat everyone in our way!"

'_Then leave me out of it!' _Tsuna raged inwardly, unable to move his jaw from where it had dropped long ago.

"All male students, please get into position for the pole-knocking competition!"

* * *

It was impossible for Team A to win. Most of the more sensible students knew that- except that there weren't a lot of those on the team.

Naoki was one of them, but all she cared for was her own wellbeing, so she had no time to feel sorry for Tsuna (who was obviously doomed).

"Begin!"

The field was instantly filled with the sound of roaring and running, surrounded by deafening cheers from the girls. It soon became more of a downright gang war than anything.

Naoki had stayed towards the far back when they had gathered, but had quickly found herself being pulled towards the center just as the starting signal was given.

"Ryohei! What-!"

"This is your chance to redeem yourself, Naoki!" the boy yelled in her ear, finally letting her go as the opposing teams entered the fray.

Her protests were drowned out by all the chaos. And to make matters worse, her hair color seemed to aggravate the enemy.

"Get the redhead!" someone shouted amidst all the kicking and punching that Naoki was barely avoiding.

"No, get the whitehead!" she yelled back, elbowing someone in the face rather accidentally. Luckily it turned out to be a member of Team C. "Hey, I know you- you threw me down the stairs!"

She was happy to see him trampled on by everyone else once she had knocked him to the ground.

There was no more time for talk- now she had to concentrate on defending her dear life (and more importantly, her dignity), especially since she was practically stuck in the very middle of the battlefield.

"There are too many of them!"

"We're not getting anywhere!"

What, were they still thinking of winning? Naoki frowned at their ridiculous competitive spirit and grimaced as some hoodlums tore at her clothes.

It was enough to be called sexual harassment, so they completely deserved the pounding they received from her. She mainly used her bony (and therefore lethal) elbows to smash their faces, unwilling to use her fists. Their faces would have done more damage to her hands had she used them, anyway.

"Whoa!"

"Timber!"

Everyone's attention shifted to Team A's pole and Tsuna, who was falling, falling-

Then, the sound of a gunshot.

"Win as if I were to die!"

They all watched in awe as the previously insecure teen roared in midair, and landing, kept himself off the ground by jumping on people's heads.

"Are there no _rules_ to this _game_?" Naoki voiced, the fight having come to a temporary standstill.

"I guess as long as he doesn't touch the ground, he's safe!"

"This way, Tsuna!"

Another round of confused protests erupted as the scantily clad boy formed a sort of cavalcade supported by Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Gokudera.

"Go! Aim for the leader!" Tsuna hollered just before they took off, sending all opposing forces flying. Naoki was thankfully left behind.

"Now that's impressive," she commented, gazing at the path of destruction with a lopsided grin as her teammates began to cheer.

But suddenly, there was silence.

The group had been moving forward at a remarkable pace when Ryohei and Gokudera had started arguing once again. And then they had to punch each other, leaving Tsuna no support.

He was now on the ground- his enthusiasm gone and spirit extinguished.

'_We… we lost!_'

* * *

"Well, at least _someone_ had fun."

They watched as Ryohei roared triumphantly in the middle of his collapsed enemies.

As soon as Team A's defeat had been decided, the field had broken into instant battle once more (for reason Naoki could not comprehend). Of course, the sensible ones kept their distance. The unlucky ones- namely Tsuna- didn't get much of a choice, though.

"He seems really happy…" Kyoko observed with a halfhearted smile at the sight of her brother, who was shouting for more opponents.

The tournament was now over, and those who were still conscious were busy tidying up. It proved to be rather difficult with all those bodies lying around. Not that anybody was too seriously injured. It was quite a miracle for _Tsuna_ to be alive though.

"Hey Kyoko," Naoki beckoned the girl over and handed her a small vial containing little red pellets. "Give this to Sawada, will you? It'll save him a lot of pain."

She had had the time to retrieve her violin case and rummage through it for this particular medicine. It was a pain killer she had invented- much safer and more effective than what you could find on the market. It was also quite cheap and easy to make- otherwise she wouldn't have wasted it on Tsuna.

Kyoko blinked with those large eyes of hers before smiling prettily.

"I will!" she said happily before shooting a concerned look at her brother, who hadn't calmed down yet. "Can you take care of onii-chan?"

"… Of course," Naoki assured the girl before sending her off with a dismissive wave.

She then turned to Ryohei, who was stomping around the field.

"Oy turf head! Time to go home!" she called.

"Turf-? Naoki! Why are you calling me that?" the boy responded, sounding quite outraged. He was at her side in seconds.

"I don't know, it sounded funny?" Naoki suggested, suppressing a grin. "Let's go."

"What about Kyoko?"

"She's busy saving Sawada's life."

"Oh. What?" Ryohei blinked.

"Never mind," she answered, walking ahead and out the school gates, "Come on, turf head!"

"Argh!"

* * *

A little red notebook lay discarded on the rooftop of Namimori Middle School. The sky was already reddening, and it didn't seem like anyone would come here anymore today.

The poor little notebook was sad. It had been waiting for its owner for hours now.

Suddenly, the door to the roof creaked open, filling the small notebook with hope.

"…Trash?"

The red notebook panicked at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and the rather rude word it spoke.

"Hmm."

The notebook was picked up and opened, upon which it tried to resist revealing all its pages. It did succeed in giving the intruder a paper cut.

"…"

And regretted doing so immediately under the unnerving power of a death glare.

* * *

Naoki frowned as she eyed herself in her bathroom mirror that evening. She had sustained far too many bruises, and her left shoulder was stiff. She remembered someone kicking her there, and smiled at the memory of seeing the idiot being punched in the face by Ryohei soon afterwards.

Oh yes, for once she was glad to be in the same class as the boxing fanatic.

After showering and applying her homemade salve on any bruises, Naoki got into her pajamas and opened her violin case. She had to replace the vial she had given Kyoko with an extra from the cellar (her storage room for everything she made) while making sure that everything else was in place.

Then she had one of those woman's intuition moments. _Something_ was amiss. Apparently her subconscious already knew what it was, judging by that unmistakable feeling of dread she was getting in her stomach.

"Great. Now I won't be able to sleep before I-"

She paused. Looked around. Closed her violin case. Opened it again. Unzipped the bag's outer pocket, where she kept all her school material. Sifted through the papers. Took a deep breath.

"I _lost_ Suomi?"

* * *

**Author's Note****: ** Dun dun dun! In case you don't remember… Suomi is the name of Naoki's diary.

I really really appreciate the nice reviews! It's good to know that some people are enjoying my story.

And those of you who like the read but don't care enough to review- shame on you.

As for the vote, I've received more votes for Ryohei, and that's probably who I'm going to pair Naoki up with. But I haven't made my final decision yet, so keep on telling me your opinions!

Brief replies to your reviews, because I love you so much:

**ColinatorGX**: Haha! Too true, too true. Hibari gets all the OCs… it's almost tragic. Thanks for your review!

**HitmanMiharu**: Thanks! Even if I do decide to go with Ryohei instead, there'll be plenty of Hibari-ness involved. I think. Keep reading!

**Evanescences Angel**: Your review brought tears of joy to my eyes. I'm glad you like my OC. Haha, I'll try not to torture you too much! Thank you!

**miyosan343**: Wow, hadn't even thought about them! Which one were you thinking of, exactly? It'll be some time till we actually get to that arc, but hey. I can plot. Thanks for the review!

**yuru-neko**: You're right, Naoki would probably prefer the not-as-violent Ryohei. Thanks for reviewing!

**Draegan88**: Excellent point there! I actually do think that writing romance involving Hibari may be harder... Thanks for the helpful review, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Remember guys, _reviewing leads to faster updates_! Most of the time. Keep your hopes up (and your reviews nice).


	8. Dearest Suomi

**Disclaimer:** This chapter contains some of chapter 19 from the manga.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 8) Dearest Suomi**

"Morning, Ryohei!"

"Hey N- wait, where are you going?"

Ryohei blinked as his red haired friend jogged right past him after that brief greeting.

"School!" Naoki told him with a wave.

"It's Sunday!"

"I know!" And with that, she turned the corner and was gone.

Ryohei blinked some more. He had just been on his way to Naoki's house to drag his classmate to yet another training session, but it seemed as though the redhead was busy today.

Shaking his head, the white haired teen continued on his way, punching the air as he went.

* * *

Contrary to what she had expected, Naoki had gotten a good night's sleep even after realizing the loss of her dear diary. In fact, she only remembered the missing notebook after a nice omelet breakfast.

Though she had no idea exactly where she had left it, it was clear that she had to start searching at school. There were only a few places that she had been in during the tournament- the field, her classroom, and the roof.

"Please be there…" Naoki muttered as she entered the school gates.

It seemed as though the place was completely empty. Of course, only someone who had lost their precious diary would think of coming to school on a Sunday.

"Suomi?" she called as she walked across the courtyard, apparently expecting the inanimate object to answer.

Other than the fact that the place was surprisingly clean after yesterday's hoopla, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No little red notebook caught her sight.

Entering the school building, Naoki discovered that all the classrooms were locked. Unfortunately she hadn't brought any lock-picking tools with her. She rummaged through her pockets anyway.

Her house key and some money.

"What am I going to do, bribe the door?" the redhead mumbled, shaking her head before stuffing the items back into her pockets.

She would just have to check the classroom tomorrow. But there was still a chance that the door to the roof was open.

"I'm coming, Suomi!"

Sprinting up the stairs, she found that the roof was indeed accessible… but quite empty.

"D'oh… where _did_ I leave her?"

Apparently her diary also had a gender.

* * *

Naoki sighed all the way home, and though it was still morning it felt as though she had gone through a whole day of training with Ryohei. That's how much she missed her Suomi.

Arriving at her house gate, she found a small note attached strategically right above the lock. It was rather hard to overlook.

'Come to Tsuna's house immediately,' it read. 'Your medical expertise is needed.'

Naoki stared at the small handwriting for a while. She knew that Reborn was behind this, and the last note he had sent her had led to near 'death-by-Hibari'. What would it lead to this time?

"Too bad. I don't know where Sawada lives," she concluded quite cheerfully after some thought.

Taking the note off of her gate, she noticed that there was something else written on the back. Her eyebrows rose.

'Follow the arrows.'

"Arrows?" Naoki repeated, curiosity forcing her to take a look around.

And there they were- little chalk arrows drawn onto the ground at approximately 5m intervals to guide her down the street.

"… How cute."

* * *

"Gyaah-! He moved!"

Tsuna wasn't having much of a pleasant morning. He had woken to the sound of a gunshot and a presumably dead guy in his room. Reborn had explained that he, wimpy little Tsuna, had shot the man (a burglar, apparently) subconsciously, in self-defense.

He couldn't quite believe it, but the bleeding man lying on his bed seemed like undeniable proof.

Then Haru, that girl who seemed to follow him around had entered, closely followed by Yamamoto and Gokudera. They didn't do much to help with Tsuna's dramatic 'my life is over' fit. However, Gokudera did succeed in giving his boss some hope when he managed to get a small reaction from the victim by threatening to burn him with a lit cigarette.

"Ambulance-! Let's call an ambulance!" Haru exclaimed frantically. She was acting as though she had equal responsibility for this crime.

"There's no need," said Reborn, "I called a doctor."

"A… a doctor?"

They all stared at the open door as they heard footsteps approaching. Tsuna's jaw dropped. There in the doorway stood a familiar teen in a loose hoodie and jeans, greeting them with an expression of mild interest.

"Itoe-san?"

"Morning," the redhead muttered. Then her eyebrows furrowed at the state of Tsuna's room. "What a mess. Did someone die in here?"

"You! What are _you_ doing here?" Gokudera inquired. It didn't sound particularly welcoming. Yamamoto only laughed.

"Reborn said that my 'medical expertise' was needed," Naoki replied calmly, observing the scene quite loftily.

"You… you're a doctor?" Tsuna spluttered, all teary-eyed and rather pathetic looking.

"No," the upperclassman answered bluntly. Tsuna gave a cry of despair.

"Not officially," Reborn added before Gokudera could spew any insults, "But Itoe has enough skills to be one."

"My, I'm flattered," Naoki said, her lips twitching into a smirk as she gave a mock bow.

Tsuna didn't have the time to be impressed, though he did pause for a second to stare in awe at the redhead before remembering the crisis.

"I-Itoe-san! This is the patient- please help!" he blurted out, pointing at the bleeding man rather unnecessarily.

Naoki had already been eyeing the patient from afar, not bothering to step any closer. Besides, it was difficult to find a place to stand amongst all the junk in Tsuna's room.

"Are you sure he's alive?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Check if his pupils are dilated- if he isn't breathing and has no heartbeat, he's dead."

They followed her orders. Haru confirmed the expanded pupils, Yamamoto found that the guy wasn't breathing, and Gokudera concluded that there was no heartbeat.

'_He's definitely dead…!_'

"Maybe he passed on while we were chitchatting," Naoki suggested casually, setting off Tsuna's panic meter.

"I'm still doomed! I killed him, I really killed him!" the boy cried in horror while his friends looked gloomy.

"_You_ killed him? How disgraceful of you, Sawada," said the redhead, though she seemed quite amused by the situation. That attitude reminded Tsuna of Reborn… and it was horrifying.

"Well, good luck. I guess I'm no longer needed," Naoki then told them and promptly left the scene.

"Uwaaaah, what do I do?"

"I called someone else. Just in case this happened."

* * *

"Ah, it's good to be alive," Naoki mumbled as she exited the Sawada residence, "Whoa-!" and was almost run over by a motorcycle.

It screeched to a halt just inches before her feet. She stared at the driver, who looked unpleasantly like someone she knew and would rather avoid.

"Hello, redhead," Hibari greeted her with those unnervingly sharp eyes.

"Thanks for not running me over," Naoki replied solemnly, giving him a curt nod. He smirked.

"I have business here," he told her nonchalantly as he got off his motorcycle and stepped next to her. "I'll see _you…_ at school."

With that the black haired teen jumped onto the wall and up to Tsuna's window.

Naoki blinked. There was that woman's intuition moment again.

"Hmm… odd."

Shrugging, the redhead turned on her heel and walked down the street, shaking her head at the sound of an explosion as she turned the corner.

* * *

"Oh Suomi…"

Sawada's despair had successfully distracted her from the loss of her diary for a while, but now that Naoki was back in her own house, she was finding herself sighing again.

Her large room seemed so empty without that little red notebook adorning her desk. It was as if a part of her had been stolen and left behind somewhere. Her life was over.

"Pfff…"

Naoki snorted at the angsty thoughts that had just crossed her mind. Was this how normal teenagers thought? How intriguing.

Now that she took the time to think about it rationally, there really was no need to worry. Yes, some stranger could have picked up her diary, but that didn't mean that its contents were unsafe.

For one thing, she had written all of her entries in Finnish. And as far as she knew, no one from her school knew that language, and only an idiot would take the time to translate it all. Unless that idiot happened to be some sort of crazy stalker person. Or someone with very little to do.

Naoki sighed once more, unable to stop worrying about the fate of her dear Suomi. Taking out a sheet of paper from her desk drawer, she attempted to write down her thoughts.

But it just wasn't the same.

* * *

"Not here either. Darn."

The next day, Naoki had taken extra care to leave the house later than usual in order to avoid Ryohei's morning routine. She just wanted to get to school without having to run around the neighborhood first.

Once she had gotten to her classroom, the redhead had proceeded to search the place from corner to corner, but again, no Suomi. Only a few of her classmates staring at her in confusion.

Needless to say, Naoki wasn't particularly attentive during class. She pretty much spent the entire morning staring out the window with an expression of deep thought, which the teachers wouldn't dare disturb. Even Ryohei noticed that something was wrong.

"Oy, what's up with you?" he finally asked during break, nudging her with his elbow.

Naoki tried to turn her head away from the window to answer, but found that her neck was too stiff, due to the fact that she had had her head turned to the left all morning.

"I can't turn my head," she told him, as if that was the only problem she had.

Ryohei raised an eyebrow at her unexpected reply.

"That's all? Here."

He stood up and placed his hands on either side of her head- before twisting it to the right in one swift movement. Some of the students who sat nearby cringed at the unmistakable _cracking_ sound.

"… _Ow_," Naoki gasped, rubbing her neck which, to her great surprise, was not broken and not as stiff as before.

"Better?" Ryohei inquired seriously, ignoring all the frightened looks he was receiving from his classmates.

To them it had looked as if he had just tried to kill the redhead.

"Yes Ryohei. I can now turn my head," she admitted dully, "But please don't ever do that again."

He promised nothing.

* * *

"Ciaossu."

"Hello, Reborn."

Naoki had revisited the roof as soon as the lunch period began in hopes of finding Suomi- but to no avail. Instead she found the little mafia tutor waiting for her.

"What, no note today?" she remarked as she seated herself next to the infant, who was enjoying what looked like a tiny cup of tea.

"It's more personal today," he squeaked.

"I see."

A few moments of silence passed during which they both stared up at the sky.

"Nice weather we're having," Naoki commented lazily. It really was a nice autumn day.

"I want you to become Tsuna's subordinate," Reborn said after his last sip of tea.

"Just like that?" the redhead responded, frowning down at the little tutor.

"No. It'll be a wager." The infant smiled.

"I'm listening."

"How many students at Namimori know that you're a girl?"

"As far as I know- none." Naoki could already see where this was going.

"Well then, if Tsuna figures it out before anyone else, you'll join the family."

"Hmm… And if he fails?" she inquired, now mildly interested in the gamble. She needed some more excitement in her life.

"Then I'll make him find some other way to recruit you," Reborn answered simply, as if this were only logical. His impudence was quite impressive.

Naoki mulled it over as they stared up at the sky once more. The idea of such a wager amused her, mostly because she thought it quite impossible for Sawada to succeed in discovering her secret. It wasn't like they spent much time together- in fact, it was more likely for Kyoko to find out first. Ryohei, of course, would probably be the last to know.

"Alright, I'll play along," she told the infant before getting up, "But no hints. And if nobody finds out by the end of the week, the wager's off."

"Deal." Reborn smirked.

* * *

"So that's what you're going to do, Tsuna."

"Eeeh-?"

Tsuna gaped at his tutor, having forgotten all about his unfinished lunch.

"Find out Itoe-san's _secret_ before anyone else? That's so vague!" he cried, beginning to panic at the thought of what Reborn might do to him if he didn't succeed.

"A detective game? Sounds like fun!" said Yamamoto, grinning from ear to ear and failing to take things seriously once again.

"Don't worry, Tenth! I'll help you!" Gokudera assured his boss cheerfully after shooting the other boy a disgruntled glare.

"You can't," Reborn told them, "If you accidentally figure out the secret before Tsuna, it's _game over_."

"What?" Gokudera obviously didn't like the idea of not being able to help this time.

"Gee, I guess you'll have to figure it out on your own then, Tsuna." Yamamoto shrugged, still looking quite amused.

Tsuna sighed. Reborn smiled.

* * *

"Where have you been?"

"Getting some fresh air," Naoki told Ryohei once she got back to her classroom and her lunch.

He proceeded to tell her about the awesomeness of the boxing club as they ate- apparently he hadn't completely given up on getting the redhead to join. She continued to decline his offers, saying that she still wasn't ready for it.

Of course, in her own personal opinion, she would _never_ be ready to join the boxing club.

"Naoki-kun! Some third year wants to see you!" a classmate called from across the room.

A few girls turned their heads to see whether this third year was a girl, and thus a potential rival. They soon went back to their lunches at the sight of a disciplinary committee member. It was one of those guys with the surreal hairdos.

"You called?" said Naoki once she was out in the corridor. The older student simply nodded and handed her a piece of paper.

"You've got detention in the reception room after school today. Don't be late," he told her before leaving.

Naoki stared after him, and then at the paper in her hands.

It was, in fact, a detention slip.

"... _Detention?_"

* * *

"Ugh, where do I even start?" Tsuna groaned after having finished his lunch. The fact that his (at times) reliable subordinates wouldn't be able to help with this was actually quite discouraging.

"You could ask other people about him," Yamamoto suggested, receiving another glare from Gokudera for being helpful first.

"Yes, you could interview those that the redhead hangs out with!" the silver haired teen added, completely changing his demeanor while talking to his boss.

"Well, I think he's in the same class as Kyoko-chan's brother… I guess I could ask him?" Tsuna mumbled, completely unsure of himself, as always. Frankly this whole 'detective game' seemed like a lost cause.

"That's it, Tenth! And if that turf head refuses to answer, I'll take care of him," Gokudera said grimly, already clenching a few sticks of dynamite between his fingers.

Yamamoto laughed. Tsuna sighed once again.

* * *

Ryohei was off to boxing practice as soon as the bell rang signaling the end of the last class. Naoki could already spot him outside through the window while she was still gathering her things. There weren't many things to gather- it was just that she was a bit distracted.

First, her diary was still missing, and now she had detention (a euphemism for getting beaten to a pulp, no doubt) to deal with. She had been surprised to see that the disciplinary committee was actually doing its real job (at least outwardly) for once, but hadn't been able to figure out exactly why she deserved this detention.

If this was about that broken (and now replaced) fence, _someone _desperately needed to learn how to let bygones be bygones.

In any case, Naoki did not have fond memories of the reception room, and really didn't like the idea of revisiting the place. But who knew what doom would befall her if she dared to ignore this summons? No doubt it would be worse than whatever was prepared for her today.

The redhead hesitated as she stood outside the closed reception room door. Surely there was nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy her last few moments of life as a healthy being…

Drawing in a long, calming breath, Naoki knocked.

Nothing.

She knocked again. No response. This was quite unexpected.

Checking to see if the room was unlocked, she turned the knob and found herself staring into an empty room. It certainly didn't look like a bomb had exploded in here once.

"Hello? Anybody h-"

She gasped mid-sentence, staring at the little red notebook that lay innocently on top of the desk by the window.

"Suomi!"

* * *

Tsuna sighed for the umpteenth time that day as he stood before the gym in which the boxing club held its practices. He just knew that coming here wasn't such a good idea…

"Ah, Sawada!" Ryohei greeted the boy, noticing him enter the gym. "You came back to join the boxing club!"

"N-no! That's not it-!" Tsuna denied, shaking his head and waving his hands frantically. Even Ryohei couldn't overlook such blatant negation.

"Why are you here, then?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I came to ask you about… Itoe-san," Tsuna told him timidly. When the upperclassman only kept his eyebrow raised, he added, "Be-because I'm doing some research on… the new students…?"

It was a feeble excuse, but luckily Ryohei wasn't the sort of person who noticed such things.

"Ah, I see! In that case, what do you want to know about Naoki?"

"Well, just… everything you know?" Tsuna mumbled, feeling quite uncomfortable in the presence of Ryohei's overly energetic aura.

The white haired boxer put on a look of deep concentration before answering.

"He participates in my training sessions sometimes… and he's got good endurance, compared to most others. He lives in my neighborhood… and I once saw his sister- probably a twin."

"A twin?" Tsuna repeated, blinking at this unexpected bit of potentially useful information.

"Yeah, she looked just like Naoki. I think her name was Luna? Loony? Something like that," Ryohei muttered, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember that last bit of information.

Somehow, his memory didn't seem very reliable. Tsuna felt a sweat bead run down the back of his head as the older student came up with some more similar sounding names.

"Th-thank you!"

"Come on, Sawada! Join the boxing club!"

Before he could be forced to agree to anything, Tsuna fled.

'_A twin sister…? Is she the secret?' _he wondered once he was sure that he wasn't being followed by the boxing fanatic.

'_No… that would be too easy._'

He sighed as he made his way to his next interviewee.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Sorry Dr. Shamal. Naoki stole your appearance in this chapter.

I leave you with a sort-of-not-really-much-of-a cliffhanger. I had more written, but I decided to split it into the next chapter. So you can probably look forward to yet another fast update. Yay!

Your reviews are so awesome! It makes me really happy to know that I'm entertaining you guys with this stuff.

Continue to read and review!

By the way, someone suggested a love triangle. What do you think? It would probably be more of a 'trying not to get killed between Ryohei's energetic-ness and Hibari's sadistic streak'. Really, this whole vote is about how many scenes the guys get in the future- if you prefer 'all Ryohei', then Hibari will sort of disappear into the background, and vice versa.

When it comes to actual romance, I think it is much more likely for Naoki to have feelings for Ryohei. Well, we'll see what happens. Tell me what you think!


	9. Detective Tsuna

**Disclaimer:** This chapter starts right where we left off. By the way, I do not own KHR.

* * *

**Post Scriptum 9) Detective Tsuna**

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Naoki muttered, having stepped up to the desk and picked up her dearest diary.

Flipping through its pages, she found nothing out of the ordinary. The redhead gave a sigh of relief which quickly turned into a gasp at the sound of a door being shut with an ominously small _click_.

She paused for about three seconds before slowly turning on her heel.

As she had feared, a certain black haired leader of a certain disciplinary committee was standing there with his arms crossed and his back against the now firmly closed door. He eyed her coolly.

Naoki parted her lips to say something, but couldn't think of anything that might possibly get her out of this predicament. So she resorted to the weather.

"… Nice weather we're having today," she said as casually as possible, calmly meeting his gaze.

His lips curled into a malicious smirk. And that's when she knew… that _he knew_.

"So my detention isn't about that fence…" Naoki uttered, looking down at the diary in her hands to avoid eye contact. Nonchalantly, of course.

"How foolish of you to keep a diary," Hibari finally spoke up in a worryingly light tone, his gaze falling on the red notebook.

"In my defense, I never expected anyone to actually go ahead and _translate_ it," the redhead muttered, leaning against the desk behind her for physical and moral support.

"It was _altogether too tempting_," he quoted from her very first entry. Or at least, the Japanese equivalent of it.

Naoki hadn't known that her own written words could sound so _evil_.

* * *

"Ah, Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna's face lit up at the sudden appearance of Sasagawa Kyoko. He had been sulking in a corner just before his ears had picked up the sound of her delightful voice.

"K-Kyoko-chan!" the boy stammered awkwardly, blushing as he showed her a shy smile. The girl only blinked at him cutely.

"My brother didn't force you into his boxing club, did he? I thought I saw you coming out of the gym just now…" Kyoko said, sounding quite worried.

Apparently she very much thought her brother of being capable of such forceful behavior. Then again, so did the rest of the school.

"No- no he hasn't," Tsuna replied hurriedly, feeling the need to wipe that worried frown off of the girl's pretty face.

"That's good," the girl responded with a sweet smile. A blissful warmth filled Tsuna's heart.

"Err, Kyoko-chan," he then said, having remembered his mission, "Can I ask you something about Itoe-san?"

"About Naoki senpai?" Kyoko blinked again, "Okay."

"Well, umm, what do you know about him?" Tsuna asked lamely, already thinking of an excuse in case she asked why.

She didn't.

"Hmm," was her thoughtful response, "he sometimes walks to school with me," Tsuna felt a pang of jealousy, "but he doesn't talk much about himself- only when I ask- he says that he came to Japan to study Eastern medicine… We invite him for dinner sometimes, since he lives by himself," more jealousy, "and he's really smart- he helped me with some of my English homework the other day."

"Oh," the boy muttered, a bit disheartened. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to hear any more of this. A chilling suspicion was beginning to creep into the back of his mind.

"He's so nice," Kyoko concluded with another cute smile, "I like him."

Something large and heavy seemed to hit Tsuna in the head and drop onto his heart before sinking dreadfully into his stomach and weighing down his entire person. Kyoko's words echoed inside his otherwise blank mind as Tsuna's subconscious wept freely.

Kyoko didn't seem to notice.

"He's like a brother to me, you know," she added brightly, "Although, compared to onii-chan, Naoki senpai is more like… an older sister."

Tsuna pulled himself together to reply. This last bit of information seemed to disprove the quick conclusions he had arrived at earlier... She liked him, but not in _that_ way. Hopefully.

"I see, uh, thanks." He was still a bit shaken, but decided to dismiss any lingering worries. He needed to process all of these clues, after all.

* * *

Naoki had her eyes fixed outside. Since the windows were behind her, this was proving to be rather difficult without actually turning her head. But she didn't dare to 'turn the other cheek' to _him_.

Jumping out the window was a potential option, but not a particularly desirable one. After all, the reception room just happened to be on the third floor, and bearing in mind the fact that landing on hard ground from such a height could and _would_ lead to many painful injuries, the window did not make much of an escape route.

"You can try," Hibari spoke up, putting an abrupt end to the redhead's train of thought, "It will be painful."

She assumed that he was talking about jumping out the window—the way he had said that last bit seemed to suggest that he wasn't at all discouraging her from trying. As a matter of fact, it was starting to sound as if that may be the better alternative to what lay in store for her here and now.

"Maybe next time…" Naoki trailed off absentmindedly, her mind already occupied with distinctly violent predictions for her immediate future.

He still had that unnervingly dangerous-looking smirk on his face—she could tell even with her eyes fixed on the sofa. It was like it had an eerie presence of its own, that smirk.

But he wasn't doing anything else. What was he waiting for? Now that he knew about her actual gender—well, he could use this knowledge to blackmail her in all kinds of ways. Money—she had plenty of that… but it seemed as though he was more interested in shortening her lifespan, or something of the sort.

Naoki's eyes traveled across the room, conveniently skipping over the ominous figure in front of her. This time she refused to look him in the face in fear of finding signs of... well, maybe _fangs…_ or worse- that condescending smile.

* * *

As he walked aimlessly across the school's courtyard, it slowly dawned upon Tsuna that he had run out of people to interview. After all, the Sasagawa siblings were the only students he remembered seeing the redhead with. The giggling fangirls didn't count.

How strange—even he, no-good-Tsuna, seemed to have more friends than the virtually perfect transfer student. Then again, keeping up with someone like Ryohei... Tsuna suddenly felt great respect (and even greater pity) for the redhead.

The information he had received from Kyoko on the exchange student didn't seem very surprising. Aside from the fact that Tsuna was definitely envious of Naoki's close relationship with the Sasagawas, there was nothing else he could conclude from his conversation with Kyoko.

So the redhead was smart- that wasn't surprising. Even Tsuna knew that the new student was pretty much revered as one of those 'perfect' people who had it all- looks, smarts, and riches. Yes, he had to admit, that was another aspect to be jealous of. In fact, Itoe Naoki would probably make a much better mafia boss…

The bit about studying medicine wasn't particularly new either, seeing that Tsuna had already witnessed the contents of that violin case the upperclassman was always carrying around.

Then there was the comment about the redhead being more like 'an older sister'. Tsuna considered this for a moment, and soon concluded that _anyone _compared to Sasagawa Ryohei would be considered a sister rather than a brother. Especially when that anyone was the slightly effeminate, somehow elegant-looking Itoe Naoki.

Tsuna paused.

He pictured the upperclassman in his mind: uneven bangs often obscuring his pale face; an elegant, pointed nose; that expression of mild interest evident in his half-lidded hazel eyes- overall, the redhead had an appearance deserving of a flowery background.

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. A certain thought was about to materialize, clues were about to be connected, he was about to reach a certain conclusion when-

"Gyahahaha! Lambo-san has arrived!"

* * *

"I'm sure you're busy," Naoki tried, glancing longingly at the door.

"Not today," Hibari replied simply with that eerily calm and carefree tone of his.

Most students at Namimori would have already broken down (mentally, verbally, physically) under the intense atmosphere of the reception room, but luckily Naoki was not one of them. Yes, beads of cold sweat were forming on the back of her neck, but that could easily be overlooked.

She took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally looked the upperclassman straight in the eye.

"You're going to do something horrible to me unless I manage to change your mind, yes?"

There was that amused, evil smirk.

"You're not entirely stupid, I see," the prefect said offhandedly.

Naoki was momentarily stumped by the unexpected insult. She opened her mouth to protest, thought better of it, and sighed. She ought to be negotiating- something she had always thought herself to be quite good at.

"Alright, as long as I'm a student here, I will personally pay for any and all damage that Namimori Middle School suffers- including any necessary expenses that the school budget does not cover," the redhead stated, "And in exchange, you do not kill me for pretending to be a male student."

A moment of silence.

"You're bribing me?" Hibari then responded, though he did not seem entirely displeased with the offer.

"Yes. Is it working?"

* * *

"Lambo! What are you doing here!" Tsuna cried, feeling as though a very important thought was slipping from his mind like water from his futilely cupped metaphorical hands. It left him irritated at the small child.

"I'm here for Reborn! Where is he!" Lambo yelled, apparently intending to try and kill his 'rival' again.

"H-how should I know…" Tsuna mumbled, deflating slightly. He really didn't feel like playing the nanny right now- he was already too busy dealing with this 'mission' of his.

"He's not here?" the child said, examining the area hastily, "Okay! Maman is buying candy!"

This could be roughly translated as '_It seems as though my rival is not present, so I shall return home and wait for Mrs. Sawada who is out grocery shopping and has promised to buy sweets for me._'

Tsuna stared at Lambo with a deadpan expression.

The kid always seemed to appear at the most inconvenient moments with nothing important to say or contribute besides general chaos (and that was usually neither important nor helpful). Perhaps the most amazing thing about him was the infinite amount of space in his afro, and that time-machine bazooka of his…

Something clicked in Tsuna's head in a surprising moment of inspiration. There was one more person to interview- someone who might actually know Itoe Naoki's 'secret': adult-Lambo!

"Wait, Lambo!" Tsuna called, chasing after the child who was already leaving, "I need your help!"

Lambo turned around, a sly grin slowly spreading across his small face.

"Hehehe, Lambo-san doesn't do anything for free!" he proclaimed, possibly even more annoying than before.

"I'll give you more candy, okay?" the mafia boss-to-be offered, "I need you to use that time bazooka."

It took some more childish bartering before Lambo could be coaxed into firing the aforementioned contraption- but soon enough a mild explosion and some smoke announced the arrival of a much more helpful individual.

"Hmm. Always when I'm in the middle of something," said a laid-back sort of voice as a tall figure emerged from the thinning smoke, "Hello, young Vongola."

"Uh… hi," Tsuna mumbled, a bit dazed at the sight of adult-Lambo in a cow-print bathrobe and shower cap. Well, at least he was wearing _something_.

There was an awkward pause.

"Err, adult-Lambo, do you know anything about Itoe-san?" Tsuna then asked, trying not to stare at that frilly shower cap.

Adult-Lambo raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

* * *

Naoki walked briskly down the corridor, down some stairs and out of the building before letting out a long sigh. She had just saved herself from a lot of physical pain by throwing a lot of money around.

Her father would be so proud.

Leaning against a wall for a moment, she vowed never to enter the reception room ever again- mostly because next time she wouldn't have anything left to trade for her life.

But anyway, she had found her diary!

The redhead glanced down at the notebook in her hands. The sick, empty feeling that had been in her stomach since Saturday was finally gone. She took a quick glance at her surroundings, concluded that no one was watching, and hugged the little red notebook.

"I'll never lose you again!"

* * *

"Itoe Naoki! You know, a foreigner- red hair?" Tsuna babbled hastily, knowing all too well that he now had less than five minutes to get some useful information out of the older Lambo.

Tsuna's hypothesis of adult-Lambo being somehow helpful with this was based on the slim possibility of Itoe Naoki's continuous presence in ten years' time. It was a wild guess at most, seeing that the redhead had yet to meet Lambo, adult or child.

"Ah, you mean her?" said adult-Lambo, pointing at something behind the young mafia boss. Tsuna turned around.

On the other side of the school grounds, Itoe Naoki was walking towards the school gates, apparently heading home.

"Yes! That's him! Wait- _her_?" said Tsuna, utterly befuddled. He stared helplessly at the other teen.

"That's younger Miss Lumi, no?" older-Lambo continued, "Oh yes, now I remember. _Naoki_ was her alias when she was still cross-dressing..."

"Cross-dressing?" Tsuna repeated, open-mouthed.

"Yes. You know- the short hair, the male students' uniform, all that," the shower-capped teen explained, vaguely waving his hand. Then he paused, noticing the other's dumbfounded expression.

"Wait… you _don't_ know? That she's… _female_?"

"I… I didn't…" Tsuna replied, shaking his head numbly.

"I'm the first… to tell you?"

Tsuna nodded. A guilty, somewhat frightened look made its way onto adult-Lambo's face.

"Err," he mumbled, giving the younger version of his boss a pleading look, "Could you, maybe, _not_ mention that _I_ told you about that? Ever?"

"Huh? Wh-"

"It's just that, well, you see, she's _still_ trying to figure out how _you_ first found out… and, uh, she can be a bit scary," adult-Lambo babbled, sounding distinctly nervous now, "and she has all those pointy needles… and… and-"

"O-okay! I won't tell!" Tsuna assured him hurriedly, sensing some sort of tantrum coming up.

It was obvious that ten years hadn't changed Lambo all that much. He was still just a crybaby inclined to wearing cow-print things.

"Ah, good," adult-Lambo said, suddenly sounding all laid-back again, "See you, young Vong-"

And with another _poof! _he was replaced by his younger self.

* * *

"Ciaossu."

"Hmm? Oh, hello Reborn."

Naoki was just fumbling with the key to her house gate when she noticed the little hitman sitting on a wall. On her way home she had stopped by a grocery store to pick up some milk and eggs, which was apparently how Tsuna had caught up so quickly.

"Ah-… Itoe-san!" the boy called as he emerged from around the corner, distinctly out of breath. Reborn had probably forced him to run the entire way.

"Good afternoon, Sawada," the redhead greeted, wondering why the boy seemed to be in such a hurry. Tsuna was now holding onto the wall and trying to catch his breath.

"We can talk inside," Reborn said in an authoritative manner that left no room for argument (which was how he always talked).

"… Sure," Naoki replied as she unlocked the gate and walked up to her front door, unlocking it too. Tsuna followed, a bit hesitantly.

"Come in," the redhead said, holding the door open for Tsuna. Reborn was already inside.

"You're not… eh… busy, are you?" muttered the boy as he entered the house uncertainly.

The sight with which he was greeted was quite impressive: a spacious living room complete with flat screen TV, a huge leather couch with silk cushions, and book shelves lining one of the walls, filled neatly with remarkably thick volumes. Everything looked distinctly… expensive.

"Not today," Naoki answered, grimacing slightly at the recollection of a very similar exchange of words at school, less than an hour ago.

She strolled over to the kitchen and placed the bag of groceries onto the counter before opening the refrigerator to put away the eggs and milk. Reborn watched her from the kitchen table while Tsuna just sort of stood there awkwardly.

"Would you like something to drink?" the redhead asked, thinking of making some tea for herself.

"Err, no thanks."

"Tea," Reborn said simply. A tea kettle was promptly filled with water and set onto the stove.

"Alright, start talking," Naoki told them after dropping some tea leaves into some tea cups.

"Eh-? Oh… umm… I…" Tsuna began, not entirely sure how to bring up the subject. "I… I found out your secret!" he then blurted out, cringing subconsciously at how stupid that had sounded. He stared at the tablecloth, too embarrassed to look up.

"Oh?"

"You- you're a girl," the younger student muttered very quickly. When he heard no response, Tsuna slowly shifted his gaze to the redhead.

A blank expression.

For one horrible moment, Tsuna was convinced that he was wrong.

The tea kettle began to whistle. Naoki turned away to fill the tea cups with hot water.

'_I knew it! I never should have trusted Lambo- I mean seriously, how could Itoe-san be a gir-' _Tsuna's train of thought came to a violent halt and vanished into nothingness at the sound of… giggling?

When Naoki turned around, her previously blank expression was replaced by a playful smirk.

"I have to say, that was a lot faster than I expected," she told him, "How _did_ you find out so quickly?"

Tsuna stared at the upperclassman, his mouth agape in awe. The redhead's voice had sounded about half an octave higher- lighter, merrier… feminine.

"You _are _a girl?" Tsuna exclaimed incredulously, "But how-! I mean why-!"

"How's the tea?"

"Very nice."

'_They're chitchatting!' _Tsuna's inner voice cried out, shedding imaginary tears at the sight of Reborn and Naoki sipping their tea contentedly and ignoring his confusion completely.

'_Uwaaah- Reborn knew already, didn't he?'_

"Of course I knew," said the tutor, "That's how we made this deal in the first place."

"Eeh-! Wait, what deal?" Tsuna asked, puzzled. Reborn had once again skipped the explaining part that was supposed to have come with the 'mission'.

"Well," the redhead put in, "I was supposed to join your little gang if you were the first at our school to find out about my actual gender."

"Oh," the boy mumbled, feeling a bit guilty about forcing a girl into the mafia. But Naoki didn't seem worried at all.

"But I can't."

"Huh?"

"Someone else found out before you," she informed him with a very business-like smile. Tsuna's jaw dropped.

"You fail again, no-good Tsuna," Reborn commented, apparently not at all surprised by this turn of events.

"But never mind that," Naoki continued dismissively, her eyes lit with curiosity, "Now tell me, how did you find out?"

Tsuna twitched uncomfortably. His mind was still trying to come to grips with this newly confirmed information. _'Itoe-san, a girl?_' It was all very shocking, and yet… it made sense.

"Uh… I… I can't tell you," he mumbled, getting back to the matter at hand. He had promised not to tell on adult-Lambo, for one thing, but really, an explanation concerning someone from the future that Naoki had yet to meet would probably sound… well, unbelievable.

Mild disappointment passed the redhead's expression before turning into bored resignation.

"Fine. I'll find out sooner or later," she uttered. Tsuna gave an inward sigh of relief.

"Wait- someone else found out?" he then spluttered, "Who- _how_?"

Naoki gave a small sigh. Tsuna thought he saw a momentary look of weariness cross her face.

"Well, it was mostly my fault," she said, absently staring at her tea.

"Hibari found her diary," Reborn put in helpfully, earning himself a pair of surprised stares.

"Hibari senpai?" Tsuna gasped, wondering how the redhead was still alive and unharmed. His outburst was ignored.

"_You_ already knew that Sawada was disqualified?" Naoki asked Reborn, her eyes widening, "And you made him _run_ all the way here?"

Reborn simply slurped the rest of his tea. Then he smirked. The girl shook her head.

"Admirable," she concluded. The two chuckled.

Tsuna wept on the inside.

* * *

_Dearest Suomi,_

_How I missed you! I deeply apologize for neglecting you like this. To think that anyone would care to translate your contents! What the world has gotten to… _

_I had to bribe my way out of getting killed today (once again proving that money is the answer to everything). And it wasn't all that much money, either! Paying for damages to the school- how much could that be? A broken fence here, a chink in the wall there… _

_In any case, now several people know that I am, in fact, a girl. There's Reborn, who did his research (and just happens to be smarter than the rest), that Hibari person, who practically raped you, and Sawada. I'm quite sure he cheated somehow- but how, exactly?_

_Oh, I'll find out someday._

_Wait a minute, how much of you did that sadistic prefect translate?_

_Only the first page, I presume._

_Because, if he had read all those names I called him in my other entries, I wouldn't be alive right now._

_Good job Suomi; seems like you managed to protect most of your contents after all. Besides, now I don't have to join Sawada's little mafia family- that was close! I really didn't expect him to find out in ONE day. I guess I underestimated him just a bit._

_Well anyway, that's about it for today.  
_

_I promise never to leave you lying around like that ever again!_

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen  
_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note**: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And yes, apparently Naoki can make a cup of tea in less than a minute. Amazing!

The whole voting thing is now closed, and I have come to the conclusion that… well… Ryohei and Hibari are equally loved. We'll see how the romance (when/if it ever kicks in) turns out.

Wait, no Ryohei in this chapter? Whoops. He'll be back, don't worry.

Please Review!


	10. Toxic Training

**Disclaimer:** I do not own KHR.

I had part of this chapter written up on my laptop…. But then it got infected by a lethal virus… All of my precious data, GONE! Now, a moment of silence for all the documents and files I was too lazy to back-up.

Alright, you may now proceed to read another chapter of filler material. Note that only a few sections are based on actual manga chapters, and that I am going by the chronological order that the anime follows (sort of).

* * *

**Post Scriptum 10) Toxic Training**

_Thursday, Naoki's kitchen_

"You fail." Naoki gave the poor boy a cool, calculating glance that clearly communicated her lack of sympathy for his incompetence. Then she tilted her head and smirked just so—"_Again._"

Tsuna sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that week. Ever since he had figured out the redhead's 'secret', Reborn had forced him into what could only be described as a series of impossible wagers which were supposed to end with Naoki joining the Vongola (though Tsuna still did not understand why she was needed. Or why he needed to become a mafia boss in the first place), but as the week progressed, it seemed as though they were only intended to embarrass the life out of Tsuna.

The way Naoki had just smirked at him was proof. Tsuna had found that the challenges he was supposed to win were becoming progressively simpler and easier, and because he failed every single one of them anyway, this only added to the sense of shame he was faced with afterwards.

Just now, for example, he had lost three rounds of rock paper scissors. Consecutively. With Naoki looking at her cup of tea the whole time. Even luck had it against him. Then again, luck had always had it against him.

Naoki herself did not seem as averse to the idea of joining the mafia as she had been only a few weeks ago. Maybe seeing the scrawny little boy trying so hard had opened her heart to the idea. A better explanation would be the lack of excitement in her life—she was simply bored beyond reason. Apparently, having an extremely enthusiastic boxer as a friend just wasn't enough anymore.

"Amazing," the redhead was saying, eyeing Tsuna from head to toe, "I've never seen anyone so spectacularly below average."

This remark actually ranked quite low on the scale of snide comments with which she had showered the boy during the last few days. Nevertheless, her words were not exactly encouraging.

"Reborn!" Tsuna whined, as if blaming his tutor (and rightly so) for all the physical and mental scarring he had endured lately. "I can't do this anymore!"

Simple games were not the only things he had failed at—there had been mind-boggling math riddles, frustratingly easy tasks with time limits that made them impossible, physical challenges worthy of the Olympics, and wagers that seemed wildly irrelevant. Naoki managed to win all of them.

Reborn simply sipped some of his espresso, completely ignoring his student's mental breakdown. Tsuna hung his head and sighed yet again.

"Hold on," Naoki muttered suddenly, getting up to open her refrigerator, "There's one more thing for you to try."

Tsuna sighed once again, watching the girl warily as she pulled out a jar. A jar full of pickles. She set it on the counter in front of him.

"Open it," she said simply. The three stared at the jar. Then Tsuna stared at Reborn. He stared right back.

"That's all? And you'll… you'll join?" the teen muttered uncertainly, not sure whether he really wanted to do this—after all, as unsympathetic as she seemed to be, Naoki was, as he had recently discovered, a girl, and as far as he knew the mafia was not to be taken lightly.

Disregarding Tsuna's worries, she shrugged.

"Sure."

Tsuna wasn't so 'sure', but with one look from Reborn he clasped the lid of the jar and attempted to turn it counterclockwise. It wouldn't budge. He tried a few more times. The jar remained unopened. Naoki had long since finished her tea.

A few moments passed in silence. Then, a few sparrows took flight from a tree in the backyard at the sound of a gunshot.

"Open the jar as if I were to die!"

The flame on Tsuna's forehead died out soon after, with him holding the lid in his right hand. The jar lay in pieces on the counter. Naoki was not impressed.

"…That doesn't count."

"I-I'm sorry!"

By the end of the week, he found himself owing the redhead quite a lot of money.

* * *

_Tuesday, Namimori Middle School_

Another boring day at school, or so Naoki had thought, until she encountered a small Chinese child holding a lunchbox and, by the sound of it, asking for directions.

Naoki had just been asked to run an errand for a teacher, meaning that she could take her sweet time and skip some of the boring class. She never paid any attention in math anyway.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand a word you're saying," Naoki told the child who sighed, bowed politely, and ran off down the hallway.

"Hmm."

During lunch the same day, Naoki opened the door to the school roof, immediately regretting it as her ears were met with a great deal of noise. Spotting Sawada and his cronies, she contemplated quietly closing the door and returning to her classroom when something was thrown in her direction.

Instinctively, she shut the door, a dull thud immediately ringing through its surface.

"Aah! Itoe-san!" she heard through the door, and opened it again cautiously. The Chinese child she had met that morning lay unconscious on the floor just behind the opened door.

"Oh," Naoki commented, then, "Sawada, what are you doing? Throwing children around like that."

Tsuna had already gathered the child in his arms and seemed to be too panicked to listen to her reprimands. Now that she got a better look at it, the child seemed to have strange dots painted on its forehead. Naoki made no attempt to understand how the patterns of dots were changing with each second.

Ignoring her (the nerve of him), Tsuna quickly passed the child onto Yamamoto, who was standing nearby, and frantically told him to toss it in the air, which he did without hesitation.

Naoki gave them all a look of mild disgust which quickly turned into wide eyed exasperation at the sudden explosion up in the sky.

"I can't believe you just blew up a child," she muttered numbly, safe behind the half open door.

"Itoe-san, it…it's not what it looks like!"

Wondering whether this was part of his mafia training (what else could it be?), she shook her head and returned to her classroom. At least there she wouldn't have to worry about exploding children ruining her lunch.

* * *

_Sunday, Naoki's house_

It was morning.

Well, it was more like noon, but on Sundays those terms were interchangeable. Naoki had just woken up after finally getting to bed some time at dawn, having spent the night on experiments and such.

Ryohei, having finally accepted the fact that Naoki was simply unavailable on Sundays, had mercifully stopped popping up for random challenges and training. Consequently, Sunday had become her favorite day of the week, and she mostly spent the time tending to her garden or simply relaxing. No strenuous activities, physical or otherwise, were allowed on this day, she told herself.

It was then not surprising that she groaned out loud at the sight of Reborn sitting on her kitchen counter.

"It's_ Sunday_," she declared irritably, "And on Sundays I demand to be left alone."

Little did she know that that exact demand would ironically ruin the rest of her Sundays from here on out.

"A perfect day for some training, don't you think?" he simply replied, completely ignoring her request and smiling innocently.

"No," she answered flatly, "Wait, what training?"

"Gokudera and Yamamoto are going through a strengthening program right now," said Reborn, as though this would explain everything—which it did. She knew exactly where he was going with this.

"What exactly do _I_ need to strengthen? Having Ryohei as a friend involves more than enough 'training' as it is," Naoki told him, slightly offended at the suggestion that she needed any sort of special program.

"I've invited someone to help you get started," was his response, which once again failed to answer her questions. "Bianchi," he then called.

She heard a strange hissing and bubbling sound, but before she could investigate a young woman had appeared, holding what looked like a whole stack of lunchboxes.

"Reborn!" she called dreamily, dropping everything on the counter before gathering the child into a hug.

"… Hello," Naoki greeted numbly.

She was promptly ignored, though by now she no longer cared. Faint purple smoke was wafting around the unknown packages on her kitchen counter. On _her_ _kitchen counter_. That was where she prepared her food. Not today though, most definitely.

The next few minutes went by in a flash while she stood there, speechless, and Reborn basically told her to 'practice' on what was easily a few kilograms worth of undiluted poison.

"You'll be in very good shape once you are able to neutralize Bianchi's poison cooking," he was saying when Naoki finally opened her mouth to object.

"Err," she said, quite convincingly.

"Have fun," was the last thing Reborn told her before he hopped onto Bianchi's shoulder and they walked out of the kitchen.

Naoki was still eyeing the steadily increasing amount of purple smoke when she heard her front door slam shut. The strange thing about that was that there was no ensuing click of a lock that was supposed to fall into place automatically. Hesitantly, she shuffled out of the kitchen and stuck her head around the corner.

She stared down the hallway at her front door.

Where the lock and door handle should be, a rather large hole was steadily increasing in size, its edges covered in what looked like steaming purple ooze, consequently allowing daylight to illuminate the normally dim corridor. So that's what that strange hissing sound had been earlier. Her front door was melting.

Naoki gave a silent scream.

* * *

_Monday, Classroom 2-A_

"Oi, you look terrible to the extreme!"

It was homeroom. As usual, everyone was chitchatting instead of doing what they were told. Except that today, Naoki was looking anything but refreshed with dark rings under her eyes and a rather greenish tint to her skin. The girls were shooting worried glances in her direction and whispering amongst themselves.

A good night's sleep in her own home had been out of the question, seeing that her front door was half gone, leaving her with no security except for the flimsy wall and outer gate of her house. Consequently, Naoki had spent the night trying to get those toxic fumes out of her kitchen. Since the smoke could not simply be aired out (though not for lack of trying), she was left with having to detoxify a large amount of badly poisoned food.

Sadly enough, her knowledge of poison cooking was not exactly extensive, so by the time morning came around her kitchen was still far from its original, toxic free state. School seemed like a good alternative to the purple tinted air in her home, so for once she had been pleased that it was Monday.

At Ryohei's less than sensitive remark, she merely sighed.

"Thanks, Ryohei."

"What's up?" he asked energetically, causing her to shrink away from him ever so slightly. His loud voice was making her queasy.

"The front door to my house is broken," she muttered, propping her elbow on her desk and balancing her head against her hand. She felt like she had forgotten something. But her brain felt like it was clouded in purple smoke.

"You mean you left your house unlocked?" said Ryohei, blinking at her in mild confusion.

Naoki stared at him.

"Oh."

It was only during lunch that she finally decided to go home early and make sure that her belongings were still where they ought to be. For a while she had consoled herself with the fact that a house filled with poisonous fumes was probably pretty safe on its own, but as she sat through the first few classes, she began to be reminded of the many valuable ingredients she had stashed up in her basement.

So as soon as the lunch bell rang, Naoki got up, told Ryohei she was taking a sick leave, took hold of her violin case and exited the classroom. She did not get as far as she would have liked before being held up.

"Itoe senpai, we heard you were sick!"

"Can we help you with anything?"

A group of worried first year girls blocked her path just outside her classroom. How news of the redhead's sickly appearance had gotten around so fast was a mystery.

"No no, thank you," Naoki said stiffly, expertly dismissing them with a forced smile.

This much was expected, but what came next actually caused her headache to become more significant.

"Where do you think you're going?" came that dreaded voice from behind her, just as she reached the gate. If possible, her already sickly complexion turned paler.

"Ah," she told Hibari, because _home_ sounded like an inappropriate answer, "I need to protect my property."

He eyed her with that piercing gaze of his for quite a while. She would have run away had it not been for the pair of tonfa he was holding suggestively at the ready. She didn't feel like being chased down by those today. A distraction would be very welcome right now, she thought.

And just as he took a step towards her, the sound of an explosion captured their attention. It seemed to have come from the school's roof, judging by all the smoke that was now clouding over one of the buildings. She suspected that it had something to do with Sawada.

Blowing up children again no doubt, Naoki thought as she sprinted down the street, away from Hibari. She had turned on her heel as soon as he had turned his head. Seeing that nobody was following her, she soon slowed down and arrived, in one piece, at her house some time later. She could still see a small trail of purple smoke wafting out of the partly opened kitchen window.

Ah, home sweet home.

* * *

_Wednesday, Naoki's kitchen_

"Yesss."

Naoki stared blankly at the last bit of poison-cooking as it ceased to emit any smoke. She held in her hand a vial of clear liquid that had just successfully eradicated the most stubbornly toxic parts of the lunch boxes. The war to liberate her kitchen from those poisonous purple fumes was finally over.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes! It's done," she muttered, her lips twitching into a triumphant albeit slightly deranged smile. The vial was quickly corked and the now harmless leftovers tossed into a garbage bag.

All the windows in her house had stood wide open for days now, rendering sleep pretty much impossible. What was the use of a fixed front door when anyone could enter her house through those windows?

This wasn't much of an inconvenience though, seeing that Naoki had had no time for sleep anyway—her past week had been devoted to neutralizing the overwhelming amount of poisoned food she had been left with since Sunday. And it had not been a very pleasant experience, to say the least.

Too tired to even make it up the stairs, she simply dragged herself over to the living room couch and dropped onto its silk cushions with a contended, exhausted sigh. Throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the light, she was just about ready to get some well earned sleep when it dawned on her that she was not alone.

"Good job," she heard a squeaky voice say nearby.

"Oh go away, will you?" Naoki sighed, refusing to open her eyes.

"Nobody's ever managed to neutralize Bianchi's cooking before, you know," Reborn told her, sitting on the back of the couch and watching the redhead with a mysterious smile.

"You mean no one's ever bothered," was her cynical reply. She certainly wouldn't have either if it weren't for the fact that she cared for the sterility of her kitchen. Simply throwing out that blatantly poisonous mess had seemed, from a medical point of view, just plain wrong.

A few seconds of blessed silence passed, allowing her to hope that he had left her alone. She shifted her arm slightly to peer up at the edge of the couch. Unable to spot anyone, she gave a sigh of relief and closed her eyes once more.

"If someone were to swallow this as an antidote, would it work?"

She twitched slightly at the renewed sound of his voice. He had returned with the vial of clear liquid in his hand.

"Of course not. It would neutralize all the enzymes in the stomach," she answered promptly, furrowing her eyebrows at the ridiculous question.

The 'antidote' she had concocted was only designed to brutally extinguish all of the poisonous elements of the cooking in question, in other words for external use only. It was far too strong to be consumed in any way.

There was a pause.

Then she opened her eyes and met his. He smiled. She stared.

"No," she muttered blankly, "You don't… No."

"Whatever do you mean, Lumi?" the child asked innocently.

Admittedly, it had been amusing when he tortured Tsuna, but when she herself was the victim she did not appreciate his character.

"You want me to make an antidote that's edible," she stated flatly after a while.

"Correct," he confirmed cheerily.

She continued to stare at him with empty eyes. Eyes that had not been allowed to sleep for days. Eyes that began to twitch violently. Then, suddenly, she smiled.

"You know what? I'll do it. I'll do it willingly. Before you find some diabolical way to force me," the redhead told him with false cheer, her voice cracking slightly due to all the sleep she had been missing.

"You really are a lot smarter than Tsuna," was the satisfied response.

It wasn't much of a compliment.

* * *

_Dear Suomi,_

_I seem to have fallen asleep mid-conversation, seeing that the sun is now rising and the last time I was awake it was just setting. Figures._

_I really need to set up a new security system for this house. What use is a brand new front door when tiny little hitmen can just waltz in and out as they please? _

_Then again, I think I'll just have to be satisfied with keeping burglars away. I have a feeling Reborn can't be stopped by any human means._

_In any case, I've finally come up with a sort of counter-poison to neutralize that Bianchi's so-called 'poison-cooking' (how anything so atrocious can be called 'cooking' is beyond me), so now I have to find a way to convert it into an actual antidote that can be consumed. Which means that I'll have to start all over again. _

_I have a feeling that I might have been force-fed some poison had I dared to refuse this challenge. But would Reborn really do such a thing?_

…_Yes. Yes, of course he would._

_Problem is—I'll need to find some test subjects to try out a few concoctions. _

_Oh who am I kidding, Namimori is full of test subjects. _

_This 'training' might turn out be somewhat enjoyable after all. Not that I'm perfecting my skills to help a bunch of mafia wannabes. They would never be able to pay me for what my skills are worth. _

_Money is the only goal worth pursuing. Father has been telling me this ever since I could walk. I have such lovely childhood memories._

_Until next time,_

_-Lumi Virtanen_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the lame and late chapter, gotta get back in the mood for some KHR.

Bianchi's now in the picture, so I guess Dino is up next! Though I'm not sure whether I should just go ahead and start the Kokuyo arc… it's high time, don't you think?

So I've been busy with all kinds of crazy things this past year and a half. Yeah I know, excuses excuses. I'm going to start updating again, so no worries. DON'T WORRY, JUST REVIEW! All those reviews I've received over all this time have been very encouraging. Thank you all!

In other news, many many thanks to **e-vie **on devArt for showering me with lovely and beautiful fanart. I was on the brink of tears when I received so much love. And then I went ahead and finished writing most of this chapter. And then I went ahead and forgot to update. Embarrassiiiing.

Hope you enjoyed it anyway. And to all a happy new year! Twice!


End file.
